Sonic In Castle Robotnik
by Chosenoneknuckles
Summary: An adaptation of the book of the same name instead with the Archie Freedom Fighters in my SU universe and some twists of my own!
1. Terror In The Nite

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

_--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--_

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: Terror In The Nite**

**Unknown Location / South Island **

The sky overhead is thick and dreary, on this dark and stormy night.

From the broiling black clouds that looked like sprawling smoke monsters came the booming thunder that blotted out the mobian moon. Jagged forks of lightning lit up the night skies in garnish electric blue as raindrops the size of light bulbs splattered into the ground, making the primordial soup that is very wet and thick mud, and very dangerous to boot.

Palm trees swayed in the howling winds, and unfortunate owls, desperately clinging on to them with cramped feet, went 'Wooooo, woooo, wooooo!' rather pathetically. The commotion was scaring off even the quickest and stubborn of lightfoots or bunnies if you will, migrating clucky birds and even the mud loving porkers.

Let's face it, only a complete maniac would be outdoors on a night like this…

And on this Halloween, whilst the rest of Mobius is covered in a fierce and maddening thunder and rain storm the likes its ever seen for a very long while, Sonic and his chums are chilling at his place and watching, what else? Scary movies!

* * *

**Sonic's Pad / Knothole Village / 21: 57 PM**

The blue spiny hedgehog was of course the hippest, streetwise and cool dude around and was the one who came up with this Halloween movie night in, to which everyone but Antoine, a well known fraidy cat coyote, happily agreed to wanting nothing but some peace and chill time before taking up their inevitable mantle(s) once more…

Sonic and his freedom fighter chums cowered in the darkness, their eyes as wide as dinner plates, with their bodies being lit only by the sinister blue flickers from the TV monitor set they were engrossed in. just in time, Sonic managed to stop squealing by stuffing a pawful of chilli tortilla chips into her mouth, whilst helping himself to another chilli dog.

Needless to say the act resulted in a stern, annoyed but silent response from the princess, to which the now south-island famous just shrugged and laughed coyly. The tense silence was dissolved by a rare moment of humility by the hedgehog, as he hugged Sally as an apology and speedily helped clean up the mess at her feet, before kicking back up his legs on the sofa and getting back into the movie.

"Begone, hideous nightmare-type being from our overpaid and totally useless special-effects department, untroubled by intelligence or creativity!" snarled the actor on the screen. Well, no all right, that's not what he said but you he just wanted to! What he'd actually said was, "Begone, foul fiend of the night! Drink the blood of the living no more!"

"Oh, that's just gross…" Sally whimpered before she could stop it, gulping down the last of her unexpected snack refill as her small bushy tail stood upright, as if some practical joker had just zapped forty thousand volts through it. "This is really bloody and abit scary, are you sure that Tails should be-"

"Yikes!" squeaked the fox in question, laying down on the floor in front of her and next to Sonic. This was of course Miles 'Tails' Prower, also known as Sonic's twin-tailed foxy best friend, fellow long time adventurer and all-round cute little dude. "Look at that! He's got fangs bigger than Rotor's!"

"Ahem we walruses do not have fangs,' Rotor sniffled in mock grumpiness. "We just have very, very long, sharp, pointy tusks. All the better to – eat you all up!" With that he lunged from his one sitter at Tails, who took super-fast evasive action sideways. Rotor carried on right past him and flipped a slice of tuna and anchovy pizza into his mouth with ease, which was what he'd really been after this time.

"Now look, you guys! Can we all chill out and have some quiet here?" Sonic complained, tapping a red-sneakered foot irritably on the floor. "I mean, I'm really enjoying this and this is my pad…"

"That I give to you and Tails personally may I remind you mister," Sally cheekily chimed in, causing Sonic to sprout a 'whatever' looking posture at first before deflating and giving her the wink and thumbs up, leaving a proud and smiling princess, a cocky blue speed demon and the rest of their chums to finally get back to the movie at hand, hopefully anyway.

"Sally does bring up a good point sugah hog ya know, about Tails watching this film… I mean… Ugh… Just look at all that blood!" moaned Bunnie in concern, all the while trying to shield her and Tails' eyes from the video. Sonic looked over at her, a despairing look on his face. For a kickass rabbit girl with half her limbs metallised, Bunnie's wimpometer was bouncing suspiciously down in the red area tonight. _That's girls for you I guess_, he thought.

"The dude's a vampire," Sonic pointed out. "What do you expect him to do? Go to the mall and get a meat sandwich from the deli? He's just eating on the hoof, that's all. Rolling buffet ya know. Besides this is cool with you Tails man, right…?"

"Of… course… I mean, of course Sonic! It's just a movie…" the fox stuttered, before feigning over with mostly fake confidence and brushing off the movie in a cool Sonic like fashion with a toss of his small paw.

"See nothing to it Bunnie girl. Sal…" Sonic mused, and the latter was about to refute and reply when the screen went black for a few moments, leaving the room in utter darkness, then a hideous wailing scream filled the room. All the animals – yes even Sonic! – almost jumped right out of their teenage and pre-teen, in the case of Tails skins.

The largest cry was from Antoine, who'd been cowering behind the sofa and taking sneak peeks out at the TV monitor throughout most of the film. "I… Mi doesn't want to watch this anymore! C'est est too scary," he complained. "I'm gonna have bad dreams after watching this! It's even scarier than the one we saw last week… Que s'est-il appelé? The Scrunchback of Dotty Name?"

"Oh yea, that was righteously cool! I loved that part where the girl Desmeralda is Quasirobo's shirt with a wok," Sonic grinned, which earned him two disproving glares from the girls present.

* * *

Tail's eyes were glued to the screen, wagging his twin tails ever so slightly, fascinated and scared at the same time. The video you see was very dark and it wasn't clear what was happening so he'd had to get real close in order to take a good look.

sighs "He's gonna get square eyes doing that…" Sally whispered to no one in particular, shaking her head at her adopted nephews' antics.

The cloaked vampire suddenly burst into focus on the film as lightning flared out behind him in dramatic fashion and Tails leapt two metres backward, landing flat on his back. He had his paws firmly clasped over his eyes.

Sonic stood over him, shaking his head at 'pixelbrain's' antics. "Garlic pizza?" he suggested.

"Well I think I will be off to my bed now…" Antoine stammered out, shaking like jelly all the while as he edged closer and closer to the bedroom exit. His eyes were like giant sized saucers now but with his added tiredness he looked surprisingly old and goofy looking. "Although I'll probably get soaked in the rain. Good heavens, it's raining cats and dogs out there," he said whilst taking a peek out of the drawn curtains outside.

"Why do people say that?" Sonic wondered aloud.

"I have no such a clue. They could have said it's raining hedgehogs and foxes, or coyotes and princesses, I suppose… Don't ask me," Antoine droned in his 'I'm so proud to be a French speaker' voice.

"Be sure the vampires don't get ya Antoine sweetie!" teased the newly relaxed Bunnie.

"There is no such a thing as real vampires," the coyote sniffed derisively. "Everyone knows that, I read a book about it once in fact…"

"In glorious French no less I bet", Sonic mocked.

* * *

"As est so happens it was! Stop your laughing at me you – you – you foole!" Antoine snapped in return, pouting. Sonic just rolled his eyes and shrugged, turning his head back to the movie and managing only a slightly vertical arm motion to wave his cowardly comrade onwards and farewell.

Despite Sonic's obvious lack of interest the others all turned to Antoine, curiosity lighting up their eyes. Even Sally's standards could keep up with Antoine's in the book reading department and he was smart contrary to what his cowardice radiated out 80 or 90 per cent of the time, so he knew about stuff and more so.

"One reason why people used to believe in them was because once, a long, long time ago, people used to be buried before they actually were dead, by mistake. 'Cause they got some kind of nasty lurgy that made them all look horrible like and dead. Then they used to claw their way out of their coffins," the coyote said in posh French relish, getting more and more into the story now he knew he had an audience awaiting. Tails for one was getting more scared by Antoine's tale than he was just minutes before by the film.

"So they had blood all over their hands and faces, and when they were… dug up," Antoine said, pronouncing those last two words v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y to gross them out, "People thought they were vampires. But of course they do not exist so we and mii shall all be fine!" he said, reassuring himself seemingly in the haste he spoke, coaxing towards the exit door once more.

"Oh yuck, that's horrible! I don't think we wanted to know that Antoine! Especially Tails, he's too young to hear such things!" Sally complained, sending a scornful look the coyote's way whilst the others also had mild looks of disgust at the images the tale brought forth to them.

"It's true stuff though. I read too you know…" Rotor piped up, not that anyone seemingly heard.

"It's all right, I'm just going," Antoine gloated. "Tomorrow I'll tell you what was in the second chapter of the book. Heh, heh…"

"Wow, who know that Antoine actually could tell a somewhat decent tale and a horror one to boot?" Sonic chuckled, causing Antoine to scoff and look away, head held high.

_Always mocking me… what a foole_, Antoine thought as calmly took his leave and left the humble abode just as another flash of lightning crackled overhead, _I can be brave sometimes… Yes I can! Just like my papa was… _

* * *

He then vanished into the darkness of Knothole Village deep within the bowels of the Great Forest, and moments later they heard the front door downstairs slam slightly, and then nothing.

"Ding dong mousier Antoine has left the building!" Sonic exclaimed.

The video ended soon afterwards. Despite their maturity for their age(s) for the most part, they were all a little unnerved and twitchy after what Antoine had brought forth, and the storm was still raging outside. Sonic asked them all them all if they'd like to stay the night 

since the weather was so bad, and everyone thought it was a good idea. Although Bunnie did scold Sonic for not offering the same to 'poor Antoine' which was met with a shrug and an 'it was his own choice to leave' like reply.

Sonic especially thought it was a good idea because he'd seen where Sally had 'secretly' stashed the remains of the tortilla potato chips and a huge pack of marshmallows when he'd gone to get drinks from the cooler earlier, and he was still kinda peckish after that last chilli dog… Sonic and slumber parties seemed to go hand in hand.

Rotor, though, decided to go home. "I don't mind wet weather," he pointed out to calm his friends' protests. "I am a walrus after all, I love it! It reminds me of home…" He lumbered out into the night, ducking his whiskered head through the doorway, splashing happily along the huge pools of rainwater afoot.

* * *

The animals seem settled down to sleep, dozing on Sonic's beanbags and sofa. It wasn't easy to drop off though, because the storm was nosier than a grunge band practising next door and visual thoughts of vampires stirred varied queasiness among them all still.

Before they knew it there came a rap at the door. Bang, bang, bang! BANG!

Instantly Sonic jerked into wakefulness from his cool bedspread and looked at Tails to his side, who predictably had both paws over his eyes and was sat up in the bed hoping that whatever was at the door would go away. Sonic wasn't afraid though, and he walked right up, sped down the spiral staircase and flung open the front door.

Wind and rain howled into his face in a sudden storm squall and messed up his spines he thought. He could barely see the huge, sinister form fitting the doorway, its terrible twin fangs gleaming in the full moon suddenly revealed by an ominous parting of the dark clouds. The lumbering thing towered over him and reached down as if to grab in its stretchy amorphous limbs.

"Better come quick, Sonic. It's Antoine," the voice of Rotor said grimly, breaking the visual nightmare. "He's been bitten by a vampire…"

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

_And yes I have no real idea on how to word Antoine, as you may have noticed from 'Tides of Light, in Chaos! I never did any French…_

_So any suggestions are welcome XD _

I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!.

See ya next time folks. smiley face


	2. Visitor In The Dark

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

_--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--_

* * *

**CHAPTER 2: Visitor In The Dark**

**Unknown Location / South Island **

And far away in the rocky mountain tops of Mobius… in one of the secret hideaways of Robotnik, his latest plan has come to fruition and with a mad cackle he laughs manically into the tsunami downpour that was this stormy night…

* * *

**Sonic's Pad / Knothole Village / 11: 52 PM**

Sonic and Rotor carried the prostrate back to Sonic's house and laid him down on the living room floor, with a fluffy red cushion under his head, in order to make him as comfortable as they could make him at such short notice.

"Look, Sonic," Rotor growled. "Look at the side of his neck!"

Sonic whistled through his teeth. "I can't believe this, it's just too heinous and too random," he snapped. "I mean vampires in Knothole? …The Great Forest even? And all after the film we just watched with a vampire in it? This is way past weird…"

He bent down to take a closer look, the twin puncture marks on the side of the coyote's neck were very clear.

Tails rushed in from the kitchen with a wooden mallet and a long, thick length of wood which had been hastily whittled to a sharp point at one end.

"It's terrible Sonic, but we might have to do it!" he babbled. "It's the only to kill vampires, you know. We saw it on the film."

"Whoa! Chill out, little bro," warned the hedgehog, almost falling over by sheer shock. "He's still breathing, so just go and get me a bucket of ice." Tails reluctantly put down his arsenal and sped off.

When he returned with the few ice cubes that Sonic hadn't used for his multiple coke cola refills from the fridge, he gave them to Sonic, and stood back with a slice of garlic pizza 

defiantly held in his paws. Sally thought she heard a foxy whisper of "Begone, foul fiend!" but she wasn't certain.

Sonic stuck the ice cubes down Antoine's clean and prim blue jacket, which had red lining connecting vertically across the chest area, with red hand chuffs. The soldier wannabe coyote then twitched and groaned.

"Oh no! He's undead! The horror! The horror!" shrieked Tails.

"Cool it!" Sonic yelled. "Look!" Antoine's eyes opened, scrabbling fast to his feet whilst wailing, his arms flailing as he tried to get the ice cubes out of his clothes.

"What kind of practical joke is this?!" yelled the furious coyote, his blue eyes blazing with an ounce of madness, to all those present.

"Keep back…" Tails warned, waving his garlic pizza. "We have a stake and mallet and we aren't afraid to use them!"

"Has he gone mad?" Antoine wondered out loud, pointing out Tails to the others gathered, and trying to make sense of the mayhem around him. "I wake up here after that horribly scary film and find myself being threatened by an insane fox armed with a pizza. What kind of a morning welcome is that?"

The others exchanged nervous looks and then Sonic stepped up to the plate, keeping a close and careful eye at the disoriented coyote as he spoke. "What do you remember, Antoine?"

"Like, when?" Antoine said simply, still vocally sounding stubborn despite his dizziness.

"Like, just this evening," the hedgehog replied, "And yes it's still night time Ant so hurry up and get to it so we can get some more shut eye!" tapping his foot irritably.

Antoine's face was a perfect picture for an image of shock, but he quickly recovered his bearings and then slowly began to answer. "Well, we were watching that terribly scary film, and we all fell asleep, and I suppose fox-face over there must have had a bad dream and its turned his head in and out," and Antoine then took a breath and shot an annoyed glare at the fox in question.

"Mind you, I've always thought he was a bit, well, unstable, and too secretive for his own good," he added darkly.

Tails bristled and looked almost ready to whack him with that mallet, vampire or no vampire, but Sonic wasn't taking any notice, leaving Sally and Bunnie to restrain the fox boy.

"You don't remember walking home, do you?" Sonic continued, wanting to press on.

"I told you, I fell asleep. If I'd gone home, I'd have got very wet." The coyote looked down at the puddle of water he was lying in. "Ugh, I do appear to very wet.. You dastardly fool of a hedgehog! My clothes are all RUINED! How much ice did you use?!"

* * *

Tails looked downcast in guiltiness, but Antoine thankfully didn't notice and thus explode at him again. Sonic and Sally helped the complaining coyote up on his red shined boots and manoeuvred him gently into the bathroom, whilst Bunnie stayed and sat with Tails on the sofa. Sally picked up Sonic's deemed 'vanity mirror', and inwardly having a chuckle at the hedgehog's expense, she then showed Antoine the marks on his neck. The coyote's terrified eyes were as wide as ostrich eggs now, and he was disturbingly silent as he hastily looked from each of his friends' eyes for any explanation or hope at all.

There was none.

"I hate to say this, Antoine, old chum but you would you mind trying a piece of that garlic pizza Tails has over there?"

"Well, that's a relief," Sally Acorn sighed after they'd put Antoine into the bed in Sonic's spare room. "He can eat garlic, and thus he isn't a vampire-"

"Don't you believe it," Tails whined. "It doesn't happen instantly, you know. First he'll get all pale and weedy and then-"

"No 'fence Tails sweetie, but Antoine is fairly pale and weedy at it is," Bunnie pointed out, getting a unanimous murmur of approval from everyone present i.e. minus Antoine.

"Well, he'll get paler and weedier then… And thin," Tails said triumphantly, since no one could possibly fail to notice if Antoine got thin, his multiple tailored suits would start bloating out and falling down after all. And Antoine wouldn't exactly let anyone miss a minute of his whines and moans when said thing happened; he was abit of a drama queen at the worst of times. "then he'll get allergic to garlic, and we won't see any reflection of him when he's standing in front of any mirror, he'll start prowling in the night, and then – oh crikey! What are we going to do?!"

Usually they'd look to Sally and NICOLE for an answer or to Sonic at crisis times such as these, and so they did, but what Sally stated hardly sprung them with any hope or clear anything up, "We aren't sure that Antoine is a vampire or that he isn't, but in the case that it's the latter then this must be down to something else… Anyone have any ideas?"

"The Swatbots grew some fangs?" Sonic chimed in dumbly, earning him an exasperated sigh from Sally.

Rotor then stepped forward, which didn't really surprise them, he was the science and tech guy of the team not including Tails of course, and he usually could deduce almost any problem and turn it into some solution that even Sonic could make headway of!

"Maybe Antoine didn't go in the direction of home at all guys…" was all the walrus said, somewhat cryptically.

"Umm no offence meant Rotor, but he must've gone home, its right up the path from here and where you found him, right…? Sally said in reply.

* * *

"Yes, he was sprawled out outside his home, getting drenched in the rain," Rotor said.

"So he couldn't have been anywhere else then, but then nothing of Robotnik's could've gotten in here either since Knothole's hidden, isn't it?" Sally piped up, curiosity, frustration and confusion all going hand in hand in her voice, as she racked her brain for an answer.

"Well, maybe… he tripped up along the way?" Bunnie chimed in after a time, voicing her thoughts aloud without really meaning to.

"Aunt Bunnie you don't mean to say that-" Tails began in surprise.

"-He fell into the exit Great Forest Slide-" Rotor said, continuing the shared sentences' utterance.

"And was propelled back up to the surface where he somehow ended up getting bit by a rogue 'vampire', and was then found by Rotor sometime later?" Sally finished, her mouth and everyone's in fact gawking at the sheer ridiculousness of the statement they'd just said.

_But then Robotnik and his forces were not in Knothole so they must be outside…_

"But then knowing Antoine…" Sonic began gravely.

"It's _so_ possible," Tails finished in childish mocking, trying to roll his eyes as well as he'd seen the others do over the last few years, and looking abit silly in the process.

"Then it's agreed then that this must've been the case?" Sally said strongly, casting her eyes at everyone bar the fallen Antoine in turn to see their casted answer.

They all nodded somehow going along with an absurd plot hole fixer against their better judgement!

"We still have to find out who or what did this to him though," Sonic said seriously. "Find out what kind of heinous dweeb bit him. Maybe it was… umm… we have no monkeys in the Great Forest do we?"

Everyone face faulted and shook their heads.

"Dammit!"

* * *

**Sonic's Pad / Knothole Village / 00: 37 PM**

"Then I'm stumped dudes and dudettes…" the azure hedgehog sighed, collapsing back onto his sofa chair once more and flailing his arms up in defeat.

It was almost dawn outside now, the storm had played itself out, and it was clear and fresh all over the Great Forest, the hidden Knothole within, and even to the reaches of the Green and Emerald Hill Zones across the valley.

Sally and Bunnie opened the curtains, letting the light fill the room, and then they both went into the spare room to check on Antoine's progress.

"Hey, it's a lovely morning," Tails said. "Why don't we all go investigate now?"

"Because I'll get my sneakers all wet and muddy, and that's too heinous a possibility to consider," Sonic sniffed.

"But you must go!" Sally cried, having returned from visiting the ailing Antoine. "If something awful really has happened to Antoine, then you have to act now and find a way to save his o'dourves!"

Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Well okay, perhaps that wasn't the most tactful way to put it," Sally said hastily. "But if Tails is right, we have to know now. We can't wait! It's not just us in Knothole who'd need protecting either…"

"She's right, my most terrific hero buddy," Tails insisted, putting on his most pleadingest face.

Sonic took the hint. Taking in a deep breath and really puffing out his chest, he took a sneak peek in his 'vanity mirror' to make sure his spines were really neat.

"So is anyone coming?" Sonic asked, halting his tracks and directing the question to the remaining persons present that were well, namely Sally and Bunnie.

"Sorry Sonic but I'm so tired. I'll catch up with you two later ok…?" the princess said, yawning and waving them off as she slowly walked to the exit.

"Gee, thanks Sal…" Sonic muttered. "Don't tell me you're dumping me too Bunnie girl?"

"I'm 'fraid so sugah hog, I'm as tired as Sally is, and I won't be much help to ya all like this will I now?"

sighs "I guess…" Sonic mumbled in mild agreement, waving at the two girls off as he dashed out of the door before them. And Tails was right on his trail.

It took them no less than half a minute outside the safe haven of Knothole Village to see wave after wave of vampire bats fleeing from their dank, dark and dismal homes, feeding whilst the night was still young and the sun's rays were nowhere near the skyline.

Obviously, they didn't actually know whether it was a vampire bat from such a distance and in the darkness the forest provided, but by now they regarded bats of any kind as seriously suspicious, given what had happened to Antoine.

"Never seen any of them around here," Tails said anxiously.

"Too right. I don't think it's, like, one of those fruit bats that eat the bananas in the Green… and Emerald Hill Zone(s). It's not flying that way either. Let's take a closer look buddy," Sonic replied, gesturing his head in the direction the bats went. And as the fox's twin tails began spinning, raising him into the air, Sonic took a run up and rolled up into his Spin Dash.

* * *

**Green Hill Zone / South Island / 01: 06 PM**

They were at the Green Hill Zone outskirts when they finally got close enough to the flying horde and it was then that they saw that what they'd thought was a bat didn't really look right. It moved rather stiffly and the joints didn't seem natural. The main giveaway, thought, was that there was a small jet engine mounted underneath its silver wings. Their splash of colour was of the dark blue and purple kind, and when one spotted them, it spun around and opened its jaws. Two long fangs presented themselves to the advancing dudes.

"Yikes!" Tails cried out, taking evasive action. Halfway through his spin, Sonic decided o just tackle the problem head-on. Gritting his teeth to get above the Batbot as it turned and swooped, he stomped it hard on the back. It fell apart into several chunks of metal which disappeared into the trees below.

"Crikey! What was that?" Tails wondered when they'd returned to the safety of the ground.

"It looked like another one of those Badnik machines of Robotnik's to me, ya know the things he released after us a few months back?" Sonic grimaced, the idea behind them still horrifying him and the others, and he knew that feeling would never go away…

"…That 'bat' looked and felt the same shoddy workmanship stuff to me at least… I mean, who else builds heinously fiendish robots like the Badnik's and Swatbots to give us all a bogus time?"

"But why this many of them… And going through the Great Forest no less, all the way out here and beyond? What's fatty doing now?" Tails puzzled.

"Well, my furry foxy buddy, who's going to find out? Let's get searching for those robot parts," Sonic said, looking at the forest around them.

"Oh, Sonic, that's not going to be much fun. They could be anywhere in there. It'll take ages… And I'm hungry," Tails pointed out and moaned.

"Hmm," Sonic mused. "You're right. We'd have to spend and awful lot of time, and we'd get hungry, wet and miserable. So here's what we'll do instead: I'll go and fill in Sal and Bunnie and Antoine if he's conscious about these bat Badnik's and get us a cola, burger and fries each to tide us over. And meanwhile, you go and search for those robot parts. That way, we don't both get to be wet, miserable and exceedingly hungry for long."

"But why do I have to do it?" Tails whimpered.

"Because my sneakers are getting a little dam around the edges, dude, and that is totally uncool. See you back at my place, or Rotor's. Cowabunga!"

A racing hedgehog vanished into the direction of the Great Forest. Tails sniffled a bit and then slunk off into the woods. It was then that he had a clever idea.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

_And yes I have no real idea on how to word Antoine, as you may have noticed from 'Tides of Light, in Chaos! I never did any French…_

_So any suggestions are welcome XD _

I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!.

See ya next time folks. smiley face


	3. Robotnik Eggplains

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

_--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--_

* * *

**CHAPTER 3: Robotnik Eggplains**

**Unknown Location / South Island / 21: 00 PM **

Dr Julian Ivo Robotnik, maniacal and demented but occasionally brilliant scientist and general ruler of Planet Mobius, sat back and admired his most recent work. The robot was an odd shape, and it certainly didn't look like the big nosed midget who was to serve inside it for a time. It also had a hunched back and the newly christened 'Eggor' was now fully ready for its human vessel.

Unfortunately on Robotnik's part, this vessel was to be none other than his nephew, Snively, and currently, despite Swatbot assistance; Snively was having none of this sudden charade as his flailing arms and legs, amidst cursing, proved.

"Sir, sir! What is the meaning of this?!" Snively cried out as the Swatbots used their vice grips on each arm and leg to secure him in place.

"Why my dear nephew, you'll be playing a big part in my new game," Robotnik replied, his words sounding oddly caressing, but still having that familiar snake like bite behind them, clasping his hands gently together in glee.

"In a Badnik suit…? Why not just as little old me?!" the midget lackey continued crying out as the securing wires wrapped around his flesh, ready for encasing him in its metallic shell.

Robotnik paused, giving Snively the small hope that his master and uncle would release him and come to his senses, but like all lackey's he should know that such a day would never come.

"Because Snively… We all have our parts to play in my game, and this is yours, so get in and have a fun ride. And maybe, just _maybe_, I'll let you out of there again!"

"Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha!" Robotnik cackled manically over the screams of his suffering nephew, who was now getting zapped and strapped into the Badnik shell called 'Eggor'.

And seconds later it was done, and the screaming ceased.

* * *

_Now to see how the Total Obedience Controls are coming along…_ Robotnik thought, having been trying to perfect it for the Badnik series since he's started work on them just over a year ago, and unleashed them on the pesky hedgehog and co just a few months prior to this day.

"Eggor, come here!" the white-coated scientist who had his right arm fully metallised whilst the other wasn't, ordered, dribbling the last of his favourite raw-egg supper over his stubby fingers. The Uncle Lurch / Igor inspired robot dutifully clanked across the floor of Robotnik's huge laboratory.

"Now sit down at that computer – here, that's right, Eggor, can you remember this program?" Robotnik asked, handing the 'Snively-Bot' various program names, old, current and future to test not only the Total Obedience Controls, but to test Eggor's worth in general.

It was also interesting to know just how much his nephew knew regarding various schemes…

Eggor's metal hands tapped in a stream of keyboard strokes into the computer, with various numbers and strings of weird characters flashing up on the screens before Robotnik's delighted eyes.

_So he doesn't know of that project eh… Good, good. Don't want poor snivelling Snively to jinx it do I now?_

"Eggscellent! You do remember a lot don't you?" Robotnik cheered, wobbling up and down in delight.

"I do your bidding, master," replied Eggor in the new, really deep and non-whiney voice Robotnik had given him.

"So you do, good robot. Ha, ha, ha! Well, Eggor, I have a brilliant little plan! I have finally found the perfect way of squashing that insufferable pin-cushion and hateful wretch, Sonic the Hedgehog, among Princess Sally and her brats in arms! And, at the same time, ha, ha, ha! I shall achieve a still further objective – winning, at least, the Mobius Prize for Film Production and Direction!"

"But, Master, you award all the Mobius Prizes. You could award it to yourself whenever you wished to," Eggor said, with the very slightest hint of uncertainty, as well as something deeper and deducible, in his voice. Robotnik should have taken some warning from that, but he didn't, he was too deeply absorbed in this current fantasy.

"No, no, you silly robot! I cannot give myself the prize until I've actually made the movie! Now, look," he said, and his porky fingers jabbed at the keyboard before Eggor, "This is the design for the film set, and construction is almost complete! Already, I've deployed some of my finest Badnik's throughout Mobius looking for, umm, the right actors." The madman laughed maniacally. "You too, will have a good role to play in the movie, Eggor."

"Thank you, Master," Eggor said in his flat voice.

Of course, I shall play the leading role. _Castle Robotnik_, the movie is going to be called. A film crew is already preparing some of the opening scenes. There were a few teething troubles with some, err, pilot experiments but they have all been sorted out now." Robotnik did not need to his new robot assistant that sorting out problems meant melting down robots that failed him.

* * *

"It is a horror film, Eggor!"

"Good, master…" Eggor was still trying to figure out exactly what was happening. Stray thoughts about blue hedgehogs, princesses, furry things and someone he knew as his 'uncle', and what vile things he wanted to do to them, kept drifting through his programming.

"And not only am I going to make the best movie ever made, not only am I going to get rid of that pesky hedgehog, that princess and her furry pests forever, but at the same time I am going to conduct a truly staggering scientific experiment for which I shall award myself the Mobius Prize for Advanced Scientific Genius-"

"For the fifth time!" Eggor exclaimed.

"For the sixth time actually _you fifthly hunk of metallic nephew_… I won it again last year. Anyway, I shall be doing all these things at the same time! Ah, such genius, Eggor!"

"Yes, master."

"Now, Eggor, you must learn your lines. This is very important. Movies have scripts, Eggor, and there is to no making things up as you go along. We must use the principles of Method Acting," Robotnik said very pompously.

"Method Acting, master?"

"Yes. Follow my method or get tortured and melted beyond your most horrible fantasies, my _dear_ nephew robot, Eggor…" the mad scientist said with venom.

"I have just plugged myself into the script memory bank, master," said Eggor hurriedly, seemingly having ignored or otherwise not heard the doctor's threat. "Ah, yes, what syntactically precise dialogue! What mastery of words!" Eggor's Scientist-Flattering- circuit was plainly working.

"Of course, Eggor. That's because I wrote it. This will win me the Mobius Prize for Literary Composition too."

"For the eighth time!" Eggor congratulated him. Robotnik stiffened, and given his egg-shaped body, one might have wondered whether stiffening would have turned him into a meringue, but it didn't.

"For the ninth time, actually," the scientist said angrily. "Make sure you update the Robotnik Achievement Register into your databanks, Eggor. You must be able to congratulate me accurately in future."

Eggor's Scientist-Flattering Circuit was already at work updating itself, and thinking stray thoughts of crushing a spiny hedgehog, his furry crew and his egg-shaped 'uncle'…

* * *

**Green Hill Zone / South Island / 01: 16 PM**

Sonic, meanwhile, was on his way en-route back to the Great Forest and therein to Knothole, all the while taking in the sights that reminded him of home, in a strange and flipside like way.

The Green Hill Zone was a picturesque paradise with green palm forests, beautiful blue lakes, and brown checkered soil. It also had an abundance of purple, pink and general dark coloured flowers, as well as waterfalls and the famous Mobius Strips. Golden rings also were scattered across the zone, as they were all over the planet, for reasons unknown.

Due to Robotnik's inference however, Badnik's, crumbling platform and spike traps littered at least half of the once tranquil zone. And these were exactly the thing that Sonic was hand standing and jumping over at he went on his merry way, other than trying not to slip up and into the muddy ground, but he was too occupied with this to notice the sneak attack coming his way…

The cylinder shaped design and black and yellow stripes meant only one thing: Buzz Bomber, and with bulging crossed eyes the insect based robot it spat out a stinging fireball from its tail, right into Sonic's stomach.

The blue blur was knocked off his feet with an 'ugh', forced to lose grip of the air as he was knocked into a cradle of palm trees on the edge of a wood, the Buzz Bomber then cackled in its subtle and simple robotic voice and flew again to pastures unknown.

This unexpected turn only to dampen the blue hog's ego and it was then that he heard a strange laughing sound that echoed all around from above him.

Looking upward, to his surprise, there were a few leather-winged bats were happily hanging upside down in the tree. A couple of them had unzipped a banana and were snacking away, while the others were chattering away, saying things like, "Remember that curve ball?" and "Strike out, dude." Sonic had no idea what they were doing about.

"Man, did you ever get your blue butt kicked. Are you okay spiky dude?" one of them called to him. And its tone was seemingly more neutral rather than overly concerned, or otherwise overly unconcerned, for his well being.

"Yeah I'm fine… just as stupidly _annoying_ Buzz Bomber…" Sonic groaned, rubbing his slightly burned and pummeled stomach. _Man am I glad I ran out all those chili dogs, fries, coke and stuff before Buzz Bomber rained on my night parade_, he thought, with mild relief.

"Were Baseball Bats. What about you dude?" Sonic groaned inwardly; what a pathetic joke!

"I'm Sonic the World Famous Hedgehog," he replied politely.

"Never heard of you, man. Who you pitch for? You played in the Mobius Series a long ways back or somethin'?" the bat said casually.

"Erm, not exactly," the hedgehog said slowly. The bat saw his confusion at their odd speech and smirked.

"Huh, cant follow the lingo, huh, dude? You wanna try the next tree along if you want really weird."

"What's there?" Sonic said, beginning to feel irritable and fearing another feeble gag was looming on the comedy horizon.

"They're the Cricket Bats, man. They'll give you a load of stuff about googlies, losing your balls and getting caught in the gully. It'll make your eyes water just to listen, man." The bat sniffed disdainfully.

Sonic wasn't perched increasingly precariously in the tree to hear any more of this. "Look, dude, have you seen any of the new bats that have been passing through the zone?"

"Sure have, man. Funny looking things, these bats." the bat said. "They don't stop and eat fruit either, and they especially like flyin' towards the Scrap Brain Zone."

"I don't like the sound of that," Sonic fretted.

"No, well since Robotnik's laboratory was destroyed up there, it's been very dangerous. Chock-a-block with mindless robots crawlin' all over the place. Even one or two of those Clucker things, ya know the really nasty ones. No one goes there anymore, that's for sure…" the bat continued.

"If that's where those Batbot's are going, then we're gonna have to go check it out," Sonic thought out loud, in a whisper.

"I tell you something though man, those guys won't be zip at the fourth innings."

"What does that mean?" Sonic pleaded.

"It means, man, that they're robots, yeah?" Sonic knew that and settled for looking impatient. But what the Baseball Bat went on to say was another kettle of bananas.

"And they nest in that weird-looking castle some dude just built on the hill, up in the Scrap Brain Zone ."

Sonic's eyes widened. _A castle? In that place? Robotnik, it has to be Robotnik…_

The hedgehog took a step back in amazement. Then he realized there weren't any bananas or palm tree underneath him anymore and he hit the muddy ground hard.

"Bogus!" he lamented. "More combing time for my super cool spines, _again_…"

The Baseball Bat above just sniggered.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!

See ya next time folks. smiley face


	4. Bring On The Extras!

_I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

Disclaimer:

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--

* * *

**CHAPTER 4: Bring On The Extras!**

**Knothole Village / South Island / 01: 34 AM**

Apart from having to do a quick-brush of his spines after the minor accident off the banana tree, Sonic the Hedgehog's last half hour or so had been easy, and thinking of Tails it made him feel faintly guilty. Reminiscing briefly, he'd realised that he'd pretty much forced his little bro, ahead of his older and capable self, to go and trek through the muddy woods, looking for cold, hard lumps of Batbot scrap metal, whilst he took the easy route out.

He'd taken the initiative to txt a quick-fire message back to the Knothole hub using his communicator, but he'd received no answer from Sally and the others. And he'd soon found out why upon entering his front room and examining the note on the table:

'_We've all gone on ahead Sonic yes even Antoine, stubborn as ever that he's fine!, so in the expected case that you and Tails return here – meet-up at the Scrap Brain Zone a.s.a.p. _

_Best wishes, Sally x'_

_P.S. – I know you ate my stashed leftover tortilla chips and most of the marshmallows you blue porker! Don't think I'll forget it…_

_P.S.S – I hope you are taking good care of Tails. Missing you my adorable nephew! _

Antoine's continued antics, even when potentially in a severe condition made him chuckle abit at first but reading the remainder only served to form a growing lump in his throat.

Leaving Knothole once more with the promised beverages and snacks of coke, burgers and fries he hoped that it'd go some way to making his best buddy forgive his impulsive selfish act back there, and to make him feel less guilty about his actions if he was being completely honest as well.

Then it'd be onto the Scrap Brain Zone to regroup with the others and find out what Robotnik's beef was this time…

* * *

**Green Hill Zone / South Island / 01: 48 AM**

He'd been eagerly looking forward to chowing and sitting down properly for five minutes with Tails with his goodies when another vampire appeared, completely surprising him. Sonic was overwhelmed as the thing swooped down on him from behind, its hard metal body shoving him into the ground.

"Ugh! I seriously need to work on my endurance and scouting skills, this is getting ridiculous now!" he moaned, struggling desperately against the overbearing weight; he couldn't get his arms and legs free and the huge metal fangs were bearing down on his warm beating neck. He was helpless, and he realised to his utter horror that, at last, Robotnik was going to destroy him with one of his infernal creations!

_And then… and then… My body will be robotized just like Uncle Chuck was…_

_NOOO!_ He screamed inwardly before crying out one last time, on one remaining hope.

"Woah! If only Tails were here! He'd be… able… to save… me…"

"You called, chum?" then the weight was suddenly lifted, prompting Sonic, now on full alert, to spin around and upwards to find a familiar twin-tailed vision with large chunks of robot armour tied to his body, with multiple strands of what looked like string for crying out loud. Tails looked pretty puffed out, but horribly pleased with himself all the same however.

_Well this was… unexpected. This is kinda embarrassing…_ Sonic thought to himself, a little wounded inside that he'd set Tails up to this with his attitude earlier. He didn't let it show though, or at least he tried not to, for he could never stay angry at him.

"I thought I'd teach you a lesson for once, Sonic" Tails said crossly. "I spent ages looking for all this junk, so I thought I'd at least put it to some use."

"Phew. You had me scared there for a second," Sonic said. Tails looked really pleased with himself. "Oh yeah, really scared. I might have used my Super-Super-Turbo-Super-Spinneroonie and kicked you right into orbit! Wow, I'm readily glad I didn't react too fast," the hedgehog concluded, wiping a bead of imaginary sweat from his brow.

Now Tails looked really scared. "You mean I might have ended up-"

"Let's not think about it, buddy," Sonic said gravely, placing one concerned hand on his pal's shoulder. "It's just too horrible. Come on, we have all these goodies to eat!" the hedgehog said, revealing his stash hidden within his spines.

And so the happy fox and his hedgehog pal sat down to a post-midnight snack under the shelter of numerous tough palm trees.

For at this time the thunder was so loud that a small group of field mice caught out in it had to get hearing aids after being right underneath one massive thunderclap. The sky was electric blue pretty much all the time due to the severe abundance of lightning, and raindrops the size of watermelons splattered with loud thuds into the increasingly swampy like ground. And those darn stubborn owls were getting cramp in their legs from on to their trees for dear life, and the palm trees dug in with their roots and hoped like crazy on a biological subconscious level at least, that the storm would soon be over.

After their little feast, Sonic gave a short debrief on what had happened on his return to Knothole excluding the gathering of food and drinks and cocked his head towards the direction of the Scrap Brain Zone. And so the duo departed once more.

They walked along quietly for a while, before Tails said, "Hey… But you don't have a Super-Super-Turbo-Super-Spinneroonie manoeuvre!"

"And sometimes you don't have a brain," sniggered Sonic, seeing that Tails had been very slow on the uptake.

The two shared a little laugh together, then the fox clapped a paw to his head and lamented. "Oh, maybe I don't! I forgot to tell you. These robot parts; they're from Robotnik!"

"Who else makes them?" Sonic pointed out, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Well, according to that TV documentary exposé last week, about fifty different companies."

"Yeah, well," Sonic admitted defensively. "They're all under contract to Robotnik, of course."

"But here," and with that Tails flourished a wing section, "this miniature jet engine was built by Robotnik Aeronautics. Look at the mark."

Sonic inspected the logo, which consisted of a familiar spherical head symbol, completely black except for white eye outlines, with a black wing outlined in white, sticking out and backwards slightly. The wing form(s) looked very much like a certain ginger moustache…

"Hmm, nowhere near as cool as mine, yours, even Sal and the other's wares," he judged. _Well maybe except Antoine…_ "Some people just have no taste."

"Some people think that fat Italian plumbers are funny," Tails pointed out. "It's a funny old world, chummy."

Sonic looked sideways at his friend, a puzzled expression on his heroic hedgehoggy face. "Sorry, Sonic," Tails apologised. "It's something I heard Rotor say once. I'm no totally sure what it means…"

Sonic's eyes lit up. "Ah, it's probably just another British term. You know how much Rotor _loves_ reading and talking about old England and the like," he said with a slight groan, memories of hours of old history lessons surfacing briefly in his mind.

_It's probably why he can actually hack Antoine's vocal essays on that and well, everything… _

"Hmm, maybe it's just another word for friend, mate etc.?" Tails wondered out loud.

"Most probably little dude, but we _really_ should get going now," Sonic said, pointing at his wrist and the imaginary watch that was fastened on it.

"Oh yeah! Back to that horrible Scrap Brain place again," Tails said nervously.

"I'm afraid so mate," Sonic said, and with a shaky start they were then racing off towards the ruins of the Scrap Brain Zone…

* * *

**Castle Robotnik / South Island / 02: 10 AM**

Eggor checked through the listing for the film crew that were pinned down to direct and deliver the Castle Robotnik movie. His master had several crews of cameramen, second directors, key grips, and all those people who only exist in order to get their names in the credits of a movie. Like everyone else on Mobius, and indeed on every other Tinseltown-fixated world throughout the vast ever spinning and ever expanding universe, Eggor was finally faced with the Ultimate Unanswerable Question.

"What the heck is a Best Boy?" the Snively-robot pondered.

Eggor admired the special effects and the contained monsters Robotnik had assembled for the movie. He was checking through the stunts when Robotnik himself appeared after yet _another_ so called midnight-snack. Frothy little dribbles of egg white and what looked to be bits of toasted bread covered in tomato sauce hung on the underside of his enormous moustache. It was grosser than any special-effects unit could dream up, Eggor's inner Snively thought.

"Ah, good robot! Checking on the technical details I see, well done, Eggor!" Robotnik was in an even happier mood than he had been twenty minutes previous, but then that'd most probably be because his devious concoction had just reached its penultimate phase…

"Thank you again, master." Eggor had bypassed his Scientist-Flattering Circuit and gone straight to the Grovelling Program.

"Ah, but I see you have not yet examined the monster list!" Robotnik cried, wobbling with pleasure. "Look, Eggor!"

Eggor saw the full scope of Robotnik's genius. He'd on many occasions tried to roboticize Sonic and his friends and more recently, had tried to make them into Badnik batteries. And this time…

"It is wonderful, master. Most splendid, truly –" The Snively-robot stalled for a fraction of a second. It'd been the one in bandages he didn't like too much and another as well, if he was being truthful, and he felt a stabbing pain in some distant circuit that he couldn't immediately identify. "Umm, truly Mobius Prize-winning worthy," he concluded strangely ungrammatically,

A red light gleamed on the computer console before Eggor, distracting Robotnik from noticing the tiny glitch in Eggor's response. The lunatic trumpeted in delight.

"Ha ha-ha haha!" our distant sensors have picked up the villains of the piece! Now our cast is complete! Come Eggor, all we have to do now is take the monorail upwards and ascend the Great Tower and begin work on the climax of this genius! Ha ha-ha haha!"

"Eggor, we shall win Oscars for this!"

"Oscars, master?" What are they?" This critical piece of information was missing from his memory banks. Robotnik scowled at him.

"Movie awards, Eggor. The MMA awards them every year for the best actor, best actress, best director, and so on. There's even an award for the person who offers the biggest bribe every year." Robotnik could see that Eggor was lost. "The Mobius Movie Academy, Eggor; what else?"

"Ah," the robot pondered, hastily downloading the relevant data from Robotnik's computers into his memory chips. "Is that the Mobius Movie Academy of which you are Life President, master?"

"Naturally," Robotnik preened himself. "And this year, I shall be presenting myself with the one Mobius Prize I have never won – in addition to all the Oscars. And there will be Oscar fir you too, if you're a good robot. Now, I have to program the Assistant Director, and we shall make for the Great Tower itself."

Eggor didn't much like the look of the Assistant Director as it trundled into the laboratory. Very implausibly for a metal robot, it had a very sharp suit, gleaming yellow tinted shades and unnerving gleam in its eyes.

"Hi, dude," it said, coming up to Eggor. "I'm a Spielbot, pleased to meet you."

"That's a rather odd name isn't it?" Eggor replied rather haughtily.

"No way... I have a Mark III Robotnik-Speak-Cool Emulator," it sniffed. "I can talk like, truly groovy. Yo! I can put the spiel on you and talk the hind legs off a robot-donkey, dude. Hence, I'm a Spielbot."

Eggor didn't like it. It was too brilliantly polished, too sure of itself and so distastefully _arrogant_.

"I have briefed all of the extras, master," the Spielbot informed Robotnik, making the fat scientist wobble again with glee.

"Then all that is left is to finalise your programming," Robotnik said. "That can be best done up in the Great Tower's laboratory. Come, my beautiful little Spielbot! Let us go and plan our acceptance speeches at the Oscars ceremony!"

_Yes… Eggor didn't like this 'cool' twit of a robot at all._

_Something would need to be done about him… _

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!.

And yes that was another lame plot device / cop-out to get the other FFs out of Knothole and into Robotnik's castle territory, but it needed to be done as in the narrative of Sonic Unlimited this is set in, Sonic doesn't want to go back to the Emerald Hill just yet… For reasons of my own.

See ya next time folks. **smiley face**


	5. Howling Werewolves

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--

* * *

**CHAPTER 5: Howling Werewolves**

By now it was even darker and stormier than just an hour previous, leaving most of Mobius concrete in their thinking that Mobius was certainly going through some bad weather lately. If only they knew of the atrocities taking place on this Halloween eve, then they'd certainly be squeaking none above a whisper, or speaking at all…

The thunder was so loud that the noise shattered the metal remains of the junked robots in the Scrap Brain Zone courtesy of the Freedom Fighters themselves, mostly. Oh all right, it wasn't really that loud; exaggerating like this is called 'poetic license', or 'lying' to everyone else. But it was still SERIOUSLY NOISY! When bolts of lightning hit the ground, which they did seemingly constantly, they set mild fires to everything a five-kilometre radius. Or they would have, if there hadn't also been raindrops the size of enormous inflated beach balls which splattered into the ground and extinguished the flames as soon as they took hold. The owls had long ago decided to migrate south early for the winter, leaving behind only the few trees which hadn't pulled up their roots and done the same.

Only a person who should have certified as dangerously insane and confined to the Mobius Psychiatric Institute for Total Nutters would even dream about setting foot outside on a night like this. Except for two radically cool superheroes, of course.

And out of the cloak cover of darkness they did indeed come… great scurries of leaves whipping around them as they trudged through the last of the natural undergrowth and stepped foot onto the shiny, metallic floors of the Scrap Brain Zone.

* * *

**Scrap Brain Zone Ruins / South Island / 02: 30 AM**

Despite its rusty appearance and obvious inactive-ness, the metallic rubble and hundreds of scrapped Badnik parts that lay on what was left of the ground still gave the place that grimy and depressing vibe, the same it'd had once it was up and running as Robotnik's original, huge Badnik processing factory. No neon lights shone now, nor any tower furnaces spitting fire. But the sky above was still that stinky putrid brown, polluted and violated.

Sonic and the others believed it'd never fade, and would remain there, along with this huge metallic grave like a devil's groove in the natural earth, tainted forever…

"Phew, Sonic, the line between being dangerously insane as defined by the Mobius Psychiatric Institute for Total Nutters and being a superhero is a very fine one," Tails pondered as he dodged another enormous raindrop.

"Whassat?" enquired a very wet and miserable hedgehog. Sally's umbrella had been blown inside-out and ruined within a few seconds of Sonic holding it over his head, and now his spines were lying limply on his back and his sneakers were sodden. It was a serious bummer, and one he definitely would forget to teach Sally about when he saw her next…

_Oh wait… I'd better see if they're here! No point waiting around like a bunch of wet rats… _

"Nothing," Tails sighed, as Sonic quickly whipped out his communicator and began scanning the immediate area for its manufactured 'kin' models.

A few moments of awkward silence between the duo occurred before the NICOLE exterior design based communicator replied.

'There is no active signal in the immediate vicinity, please try again later' the communicator bleeped out for the seeming hundredth time in its typical, flat monotone voice.

"No go Tails, it's just as I feared," Sonic said, a growing grimace on his face.

"What do you mean Sonic?" asked the puzzled fox.

"Well buddy, ever since our run-in with the Batbot army in the Green Hill Zone I've been getting the stingy feeling that we've all been setup. And now we've fallen for it hook, line and sinker!" the hedgehog said slowly, and with growing self-annoyance in his tone.

"So are you saying that they were just a division?" Tails said, now beginning to follow clearly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying little bro. The horde of Batbot's was meant to lure us all away from Knothole, but due to Antoine's dumb luck, it didn't all go exactly to egghead's plan. Were both still here and the others ain't, which means Robotnik has them!"

Tails gasped as the full realisation of what was happening and its consequences hitting him hard.

_If Robotnik had them then they could be robotized any second now, or maybe they already were…_

In Tails' eyes, to think of a life without everyone else was like being without a family all over again. Not that Sonic wasn't totally the brother that he'd never had, but everyone else made it feel _complete_, as a family they fitted together, like it was meant to be.

Tails was crying now, the hope in his little heart quickly pouring away.

"Come on Tails, we need to find the others and find out what old egghead is up to. I don't why, but I feel like there's something else going on here and I want a look in at the finer details…"

The duo did their cool little fist shake routine and then Sonic did something unexpected, he hugged Tails and whispered a murmur of an apology in his ear before quickly separating from him, and giving him the wink and thumbs up.

Tails nodded a polite nod in reply, a small sparkling wetness in his eyes as he followed behind Sonic through the remainder of the zone and onto Robotnik's Castle on the hill beyond.

They'd gotten just over halfway through the scrap yard when suddenly, above the noise of the thunder and lightning, the night was disturbed by a plaintive and terrible cry.

"Ohoooooooh-oooooohhhh," it went plaintively.

Tails looked at Sonic with real fear in his eyes, and he grabbed the tiny fragment of sodden garlic pizza firmly in his paws. By now, what with all the rain, the pizza had turned into a disgusting mush and it squeezed through his paws onto the ground.

"There aren't any wolves in the Scrap Brain Zone," sniffed Sonic derisively. "Everyone knows that-"

"Ohoooooooh-oooooohhhh," the cry came again, this time much nearer.

"Do you want to tell him that?" Tails said, shrinking back in fear. "Look, I know a bit about wolves. I am a fox, after all. They're like us, only much, much bigger. And I know for a fact that they eat hedgehogs."

"No, they don't. They eat pizza like everyone else does."

"Well, all right, so I'm not certain that they eat hedgehogs," Tails said defensively. He had felt scared and a bit ashamed of being the only one who was, so he'd hoped to make Sonic feel a bit like he did. "But I don't think they eat pizza either… And they do have really big jaws, dripping with drool, and they're big enough to rip-"

"Ok man, like, chill out," Sonic snapped. "That's enough. It's probably just a noise Robotnik is having played over some loudspeakers on his castle's walls or something."

_Maybe Sal did have a point when she warned me of Tails seeing too many horror flicks in succession…_ Sonic thought somewhat absent mindly, as he tried to think of how to press forward, most preferably with Tails in tow.

Suddenly, there was a break in the black clouds scudding across the sky, and they could see a yellow full moon glaring balefully down at them. They heard the wailing sound again, this time much, much louder and much, much closer. Lightning crackled and the scene was suddenly illuminated in garnish blue. And now only a few metres away from the pair stood a humungously huge wolf. Its fur was grey and flecked with silver, and it had an enormous pair of jaws. They were wide open, and it licked its lips as it looked at Tails and Sonic. It had that look that wolves only had when they hadn't eaten in a long time and when they've just seen 

something very, very juicy. But the weirdest thing about it was that it had what looked like two tails!

Tails hide behind Sonic and peered out over his shoulder, his eyes as wide as a pair of family-sized deep pan pizzas.

"Yikes!" he whimpered. "What are we going to do?"

"I said chill out," Sonic said nervously. "Maybe we can talk to it." Shouting to make himself heard over the sound of thunder and lightning, he yelled out, "Like, hi, there, wolf-dude, which way is it to the castle?"

"Yum, yum!" replied the wolf, licking its lips and padding a bit closer to them. It sniffed the air hopefully.

"Oh, like, you don't want to eat us," Sonic said as he backed away a little. "I mean, I'm covered in really grody spines. They'd stick and hurt your throat. And my buddy here, well, he's a fox, so eating him would almost be cannibalism, ya know? And that's just really gross, man."

"We saw this little girl in a red cloak and hood a bit further down the road back that way," Tails lied, pointing back from whence they came. "She was carrying a really neat basket of stuff. Ever so good to eat!" Sonic looked at him disapprovingly. "I meant what was in the basket, not the little girl, of course," Tails said defensively. "Though maybe her granny is edible…"

The wolf walked up to them and stuck a very wet snout into Sonic's chest. He looked vaguely disappointed.

"Now look, you're not playing fair, you know," the wolf said testily. "You're supposed to run around screaming and terrified and all that kind of carry-on."

"Why?" Sonic enquired.

"Because, it's in the script, that's why." Before Sonic could ask what the wolf meant, it jerked back its shaggy head and howled again.

"Oh man, like, like turn down your volume; you're giving me a headache," Sonic complained, holding his gloved paws over his ears. The wolf looked really bummed that his howl hadn't terrified Sonic witless like his companion had been.

"What's this script?" Tails asked.

"You don't need to know any details, you can improvise," the wolf said airily. "-but you're going to have to run around some. After all, I _am_ a werewolf. Come on guys; get into it a bit more. Let's have some real feeling!"

Before any reply could be said the wolf stiffened suddenly.

* * *

'Cough, cough, cough…' the wolf coughed somewhat violently, collapsing to the floor on its hands and knees. It's yellow and azure coloured eyes turning darker and bloodshot momentarily.

"Hey are you okie, dude?" Sonic asked in concern, stepping forward with his right hand outstretched, whilst Tails just stepped back a few steps more at the unexpected event.

"I'm fine hedgehog, just fine!" the wolf spat, slapping or in this case, more like mildly punching the lighter Sonic away from him, causing Tails to yelp.

And with that outburst, the stubborn wolf struggled back up to his feet and stood once again, the primal lust in his bloodshot eyes fading once more to his eerie yellow and azure ones. Sonic just back-flipped back onto his feet, as you do, and aside from a rising ache in his chest again he felt as fine as rain, and told Tails as much when his over concerned act kicked in.

"If you say so dude… Now answer us this, why have you got two tails?" Sonic enquired.

"That's not important right now! Just run around and scream a bit – it's not rocket science!"

"Not until you've told us how come you have got two tails like my buddy here," Sonic insisted.

"Weeelllll," the wolf said slowly, playing for time, "I really think you'd have to speak to someone in make-up or maybe the special effects department about that, to be honest. Now, are you guys going to run around a bit or do I have to get really nasty?" It opened its jaws so wide they could see its tonsils. Its teeth were very, very large and it seemed to have more of them than wolves usually did, but when you're just about to get eaten by one it's probably abit tricky to count them all to be absolutely sure…

"You know, Mr Wolf, you're forgetting one vital thing. I have, hidden in my coat, a musket with a silver bullet," Tails fibbed with mock courage. And this in turn made the wolf back off a little.

"You're bluffing," it then said.

"You can't be certain of that," Tails said evenly just like he'd seen them do countless times on the telly. The wolf stood its ground, considering its options.

"Well, look, how about this," it offered. "You're going to the castle, right? Well, if I tell you how to get into it, will you at least run there so I can chase you a bit and look good? This is my big scene, after all. If I make good in this I may be able to get an agent who'd get me my own spinoff series!"

"Okay, dude, seems reasonable to me," Sonic said. It didn't really seem unreasonable at all, because he didn't have the faintest idea of what was going on, what with all this nonsense about scripts, scenes and agents. And there was still one thing he badly wanted to get straight. "But only if you tell us why you have two tails…"

"Well," the wolf whispered conspiratorially, "-this is a secret, but I guess I can let you in on it. The Producer designed me this way."

"Designed you?" Sonic wondered. "Are you one of Robotnik's latest Badnik designs? Because if you are-"

"No way! Whoever told you that was lying," the wolf said hurriedly. "I'm an organic construct, one of the Producers first in fact" it added proudly. "And as a matter of fact, I'm mostly based on him." It pointed one of its huge paws directly at Tails. "The Producer is basing his cast on, umm, erm, biological time-plates, or else the real deal…" It clearly wasn't sure that it'd gotten that part exactly right. "Look, I'm not sure if that was exactly right so don't quote me on it!"

Its breathing hastened a bit again and the duo thought it was going to collapse again, but it didn't, retaining his composure and stature just fine after a few seconds.

And during this and upon the closer inspection time it gave them, Sonic and Tails could see small dark orangey specks mixed up in the wolf's fur, confirming the wolf's statement about being created and based on the fox in question.

"This is weird," Tails muttered in Sonic's ear. _And kinda creepy…_ the two thought consecutively to themselves. "Robotnik's up to something, but what is it this time Sonic?"

"Dunno, buddy, but as usual there's only one way to find out," Sonic grimaced. He was tapping one fashionably sneakered foot on the hard ground now, plainly impatient with all of this talk.

"Getting ready to run a bit?" the wolf said hopefully. "Come on guys, give me a break. The castle is only half a kilometre away. Just go left past the pile of junked Buzzers and turn sharp right at the heap of rusted Crabmeats and you can't miss it. There's a secret way in through the castle vaults just to the left of the main gates. You could go in through those gates, of course, but that's much more _dangerous_…"

"Gee, thank you," Tails smiled, twirling his tails around abit to shake off the masses of rainwater collected on them. The wolf noticed this and did the same, covering everyone in a great spray of cold water.

"Hmm, I think my tails are a bit bigger than yours," he said mournfully to the saturated hedgehog and fox. "Right, let's get going. Try to, well, scream a bit convincingly too, okay? Ready? …ACTION!"

* * *

**Scrap Brain Zone Ruins / South Island / 02: 46 AM**

They rushed off through the ruins of the Scrap Brain Zone, Tails giving the occasional frightened squeak and the great wolf keeping pace behind them, snarling a lot and howling occasionally.

"What's old Fat and Eggy up to this time?" Tails gasped between puffs of breath as they raced along. "He's robotized tons of people across the planet, has recently started trapping all animal kind into those Badnik robots, and now he's making his own monsters out of us all! I don't want to be a were-fox!"

"Fret not, little buddy," Sonic growled. "We're going to put a stop to this nonsense once and for all!"

_And save the others before they're turned into hideous monstrosities as well. I hope… _

The castle ahead was tall, with four zigzagged shaped towers (with one main central one overlooking them all) and typically gothic looking. It had a few dozen thick, dull glass windows; some with dark rusted bars over them, and grey dirty mortar made up the majority of its construction. To be honest, the whole thing looked like something straight out of almost any old school horror movie you'd ever seen, like say Frankenstein for example. It certainly wasn't as well designed as the Enchanted Castle from Beauty and the Beast that was for sure!

They saw the wide open, rusty gates to the castle vault looming out of the falling rain right before them. Sonic kicked the gates right off their hinges just for the heck of it and they raced inside, leaving only the yellow glowing eyes of the werewolf gleaming happily in the darkness behind them, breathing heavily...

It was dark in the vault and they didn't spot the trap in the floor until it was too late. When they stepped onto on to it, great metal plates swung open and they dropped straight down into darkness even blacker than the night outside. They hit the floor with a thump and heard the sound of crunching metal as the plates of the pit trap sealed themselves shut way over their heads. Sonic and Tails were trapped in Castle Robotnik!

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!.

See ya next time folks. **smiley face**


	6. Were Off To See The Wizard

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

_--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--_

* * *

**CHAPTER 6: Were Off To See The Wizard **

**Castle Basement / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 02: 55 AM**

The darkness was all consuming and the air thick and musty with something foul. But steadfast determination still burned within the slightly, battered heroes' hearts, and so they awoke with a grumble and looked around. _Guess what hit them first?_

"Ugh, it's abit smelly down here," Tails complained. "This must be where pizzas and fries which go past their sell-by date come to die."

Sonic, meanwhile was trying to see where they were. The floors and walls were made of the same grey brickwork they'd seen outside, and there were burning torches stuck into metal rings on the walls in the distance. There was just enough light to see by, but he could really see was a passage extending quite some way into the perpetual darkness beyond, and only one way to go. And a hedgehog as free loving and speedy as Sonic didn't like the idea of being in a dead-end one little bit.

"I don't like the idea of being in a dead-end one little bit," Sonic confirmed to Tails, as well as himself. "I can take a run up and smash our way outta here," he said, looking up to where the overhead metal plates were. It was too dim, where he stood, for him to actually see them however.

"Why don't we just explore for abit? Let's see where this goes," Tails suggested. "The wolf said this was a safer way in. I think I trust him. A bit…"

"You can't trust animals just because they have two tails," Sonic said. "But okay, this is your call. So let's get to it to it!"

The duo padded along the gloomy passageway and before long, they were up to their knees in gunky dark water and that smelled horrible too.

"Yuck," Tails complained. "This is like the polluted parts of the Aquatic Ruins Zone all over again! All thanks to that dastardly Robotnik…"

"Ssshhh! I think I hear something," Sonic said, mild caution in his tone. He was really narked by now, because his sneakers were going to be ruined if he had to go on treading this vile water much longer.

* * *

"Do you hear anything unusual-?" His question was cut short of finishing it. Behind them, there was an ominous crunching noise of moving stone, and from a secret wall in the passage three weird-looking chickens emerged. They looked vaguely like Sonic's old Emerald Hill chum, Chirps, much to Sonic's inner distaste and anger. But there was something very wrong about the way they moved and they smelled really, really, really bad. As the pair spun to face them, exactly the same noise came in front of them, and another hidden door in the wall opened up. And from it came more of these weird-looking chickens, slowly creeping into the passageway.

"Pooh! These chickens need some deodorants," Tails said in disgust as the creatures lumbered slowly towards them. "Look! They've got bits hanging off of them! And their feathers are really shabby and filthy! Oh my god, that one has an arm off! Oh, blimey! Sonic, they're zombies! Look at their wild staring eyes and 'orrible bodies! I've seen them in videos! We can't stop them! They're undead! The horror! The horr-"

"Nonsense!" Sonic interrupted sniffily, plainly annoyed at his lil bro's much too long, rant-worthy outburst. "Totally bogus… whoever heard of zombie chickens? They're just some new kind of Badnik robot, and that means we can bounce them! Yee haw!" The hedgehog whirled around, spun some and then launched himself at the nearest creature.

It was gross-out city, folks. When the whirling hedgehog struck the nearest zombie chicken, well, quite a lot of it fell apart. Big gobbets of rotting chicken splattered the walls everywhere. You don't want to know the finer details; well, all right, maybe you do, but let's just say it was utterly disgusting! Sonic looked rightly terrible, like he'd just been for a quick spin around a butcher's tray. He was covered in icky feathers and less identifiable, erm, stuff. But at least he knew the chickens weren't robots, meaning Chirps could still be okay and out there, _somewhere_… They really did seem be zombie chickens on the menu.

The creatures lurched even closer, further towards them, their beaks clucking insanely, driving at Sonic and Tails to peck them to pieces. Even the one with an awful lot of its body missing just kept right on moving at them, and the flickering wall-torches and general darkness made the scene ever the more scary to bear.

Terror-stricken, the two animals managed to slide between the legs of the zombies and run ahead, into the depths of the castle. They hadn't got very far when a new group of humans loomed out of the gloom up ahead of them in the distance.

"Oh no, not more zombies!" Tails whimpered.

"Zombies? Did you say zombies?" said one of the advancing people in a very strange voice. It sounded like he was speaking through his nose. "Gadzooks, Gentle Adventurers, the forces of darkness lie before us! Our greatest challenge awaits! Saddle my destrier – erm, well, perhaps not."

"Huh, zombies," sniffed another of the humans. "Only two ruddy hit dice. Pushover. Bet they won't have any treasure. Why don't we just shoot the Dark Elf scene again?"

* * *

"Who are these dweebs, and more to the point, what on Mobius are they talking about? Are they mad?" Tails wondered aloud. "I don't think we ought to tell them those things we left behind are zombie chickens, though," he added in a quiet sideways whisper to Sonic.

"Nay, Gentle Creatures of the Forests, we are not mad," said the man. "Though brave Drizzle here was once affected in his mind by a powerful magical curse by a foul servant of the Dark Lord!

"Yeah, I remember that," a woman's voice came. "Dead scary that was. Gazza the Dark Lord, I ask you! I hate these low-budget jobs with tacky scriptwriters."

"Maybe they should've gone with The Dark One Who Mustn't Be Named after all…" the man muttered quietly to no one in particular.

They could see the four people now and boy were they in for a surprise.

The duo had assumed that the group were of human origin but instead they had a four-piece troupe of Mobians covered head to toe in fair to olive body & face paints, and dressed in variously fantastical attire.

"Wow… so Robuttnik isn't much loved by other humans either, it seems," Sonic whispered out loud, echoing both his and Tails' thoughts on what could only be described as a circus troupe before them, and a _bad_ one at that.

The man with the silly voice looked almost like a robot. He was dressed all over in funny metal plates, and carried a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. The soft, fluffy reddish fur that sprouted sparsely from the armour suggested that he was of the squirrel kind, and if that didn't hit the nail on the head then his exposed bucked teeth certainly did.

Behind him stood an enormous brute of a man, wearing a few furs and carrying a great two-handed axe. He had muscles in places where most people don't have places, but this greyhound didn't look half cold.

And behind them, a thin stooping man in a long dark cloak with funny symbols all over and wore a pointed blue hat, kept picking at his fingernails. This upright and Goofy-like character was most definitely a donkey. To one side stood the woman, whore wore various flimsy garments made out of leather which were obviously two sizes too small for her. And it was plain that this golden furred cat-woman was rather chilly too.

"What are you?" Tails asked rather impolitely.

"Well, Gentle Creature, I am Sir Norbert the Paladin," the metallic squirrel said proudly. "Doubtless, bards have sung my fame in the small and backwards settlement from which you hail. I am a slayer of Dragons, feller of Giants, a servant of the Powers of Light, foe of the Forces of Darkness, and-"

"Yes, all right Nobby, don't go on about it, they'll only get bored," the woman said rather irritably. "They're only extras, anyway. The real scene is with the Zombies, so I suppose 

we'd better get on with it. I'll stand around and gasp and breathe heavily and be totally useless in a stereotyped way while you and Thug chop them up and Drizzle casts some flashy spell that special effects will tart up later. It's so boring."

"Thug?" Sonic asked, for it sure didn't sound very pleasant.

"I yam Thug the Barbarian," the brute with the axe said in a strangely accented monotone, slapping his chest with a ham-sized fist. "Hasta la vista, hedgehog!"

"No, Thug," the woman said very patiently, "that was in the other movie, all those years ago before you became a washed-up has-been like the rest of us." Thug looked slightly perplexed and repeated his line. The woman shook her head slightly. "It's the only thing he can remember, well, these days. It's all very sad," she said by way of explanation.

"We need a Dwarf down here," the donkey-man in the cloak said off-handily. "Or a Gnome, but they're harder for make-up to get right. Dwarfs are real good in these here underground passageways. Are either of you two Dwarfs?"

"Don't be so thick, Drizzle. Wizards are supposed to be intelligent," the woman sighed. "Of course they're not Dwarves; the budget wouldn't run to one."

"Well, thanks be to you, small random-encounter Gentle Creatures," the metal squirrel-man said in a patronising voice. "Now we must sally forth and I shall use my holy banishing powers against the undead denizens of these dark and infernal depths!"

"He is mad, whatever he says. Absolutely barking," Tails whispered to Sonic, surreptitiously tapping the side of his forehead with one finger.

The hedgehog was truly baffled. He knew where he stood with robots; he could spin and leap and bounce and deal with them, but all this demons and dungeons stuff was confusing him a lot. Sonic didn't like being confused, because then he had to think loads and that made his brain hurt.

"I suppose I'll have to use the Ebon Staff of Peaminster the Magnificent?" Drizzle said in a hopeful and goofy tone. "I look really good in that kind of scene, ya know. All that under-lighting makes me look really cool and awesomely macho and powerful." He flexed his non-existent biceps, causing the woman to groan quietly to herself.

Sonic drew her aside quickly and whispered to her. "Look, umm, you seem to be the only one with any brains here," he began hopefully.

"Don't I know it, luvvie, and I still get casted as Bimbette the half-naked thief! Typical low-budget, stereotyped rubbish," she complained bitterly.

"Well, like, do you know how to get into the main castle from here?" Sonic enquired, hoping to push the former subject away as quickly as he could. More thinking and feminist stuff ya see, it wasn't of his prime concern, and especially not right now.

"Just a minute, I'll check our dungeon map," she said kindly.

* * *

At that moment, from out of the darkness, a very peculiar-looking robot clanked up to the group. It unfolded a canvas-backed chair with the words _Assistant to the Assistant Director_ painted on its back and plonked it down before the scene. It looked vaguely like an Octus, and it's many robotic arms held a variety of clipboards, mini-cameras and other oddities. It sat itself down in the chair, folding a few legs under itself, and began to give orders.

"Look, luvvies, wrong film, I'm afraid," it said patiently to the people. "We're way over budget and the producer has decided to junk the movie. Terribly sorry, luvs, but that's showbiz. You know how it is." The assembled four all looked extremely surprised and disgruntled.

"You can't do this!" Sir Norbert complained. "I haven't done my great dragon-slaying scene yet!"

"Hasta la vista, punk," Thug growled, advancing on the alarmed robot, his axe raised.

"Now look, luvs, let's be reasonable shall we?" the robot pleaded, waving several arms about in appeasement. "You'll all be offered parts in future projects. Mr Knight and Miss Feline baby, the producer wants you as the leads in _Boring Dweebs from the Planet Ego_ next month, honestly."

"Hey Sonic, why don't we just sneak away and leave them to it?" Tails begged his companion, the nerdy factor yet alone the 'what the hell' factor having surpassed way past his own geeky tendencies to cope with.

"Not a bad idea at all buddy," grumbled the hedgehog. He wanted to bounce the robot and smash it to smithereens, but he wasn't sure how the people would react. They seemed to be getting very angry.

The two friends began to creep away from the furiously arguing robot and people. They were almost out of sight when the man in the cloak spotted their retreat.

"Oi! There they go! It's their fault, they want to be bigger stars than us and they've persuaded the producer to cut out contracts!" he yelled furiously. "Let's get them!"

"That would be morally wrong," Sir Norbert said pompously.

"Shut up Nobby, you're the only good guy around here. Have a dose of the Ebon Staff of Peaminster the Magnificent, you suckers!" The cloaked man raised a long magenta stick with an orb of crimson i.e. a very typical and tacky looking design, and pointed it at Tails and Sonic. They ducked and ran. Behind them, clanking metal and yelling voices told them that the 'humans' were in hot pursuit.

They kept on running. They didn't have any idea as to what the Ebon Staff of Peaminster the Magnificent might do until a huge sprout of flame shot across their heads four metres ahead into the distance.

"Yikes!" Tails exclaimed. "We have got to get out of here-"

It was then that they saw the zombies ahead of them. Fortunately it seemed that they were just standing around, doing nothing, passing the time like zombie chickens most do I suppose, but then they saw Sonic and Tails they lurched back into action. The heroes were trapped between a pursuing circus troupe of 'humans' and a pack of zombie chickens, and that was NO GOOD!

"Hey! Big scene time!" Sonic yelled. Finally, he'd realised what must be going on here. "Forces of Darkness right ahead this way! Like, really heinous Undead Things from the Powers of Darkness right here!" He'd even got his head around Talking in Capitals nonsense.

"I hear thee, Good Creature!" came Sir Norbert's plumy voice. The friends stood aside as the humans charged past and raced at the zombies. Letting them go by, Tails and Sonic immediately shot off in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Aren't they going to be really disappointed when they find out they're chickens?" Tails said anxiously.

"We'll be far enough away by then," Sonic replied, before then explaining his insight to his foxy friend.

"It's so obvious when you think about it: Robotnik is making a movie," Sonic said. "It's the only thing that makes sense out of this, considering that werewolf outside and all that bogus nonsense about directors and scripts. Oh, and the producer: that's just got to be Robotnik."

"There's got to be more to it than that surely?" Tails said, puffed a little.

"Oh yeah, like, obviously," Sonic said, a trifle annoyed because he thought he'd finally got it all worked out. He didn't know what more there was, but he was determined to find out.

The two of them were so busy racing along the passages to get away from the fracas behind them that they ran straight into another trap. All along the passage, behind and in front of them, great, silver metal pendulums suddenly descended from the ceiling. At the ends of the pendulums were razor-sharp curved blades, and as the pendulums swung to and fro they came lower and lower, scything through the air just above their heads.

"Oh no! We're going to be slice-and-dice!" Tails moaned.

"No way! The only thing that gets sliced around here is the pepperoni for our next snack," Sonic snarled heroically. Revving himself up to full pelt, he shot off in a blaze of whirring red sneakers. Behind him, two tails turned into propellers and a fox buzzed along just above ground level.

They hurtled right into a dead end. Ahead of them, they could see two horrible metal objects. One was hedgehog-shaped and one was fox-shaped. They were great metal shells filled with spikes. They were hinged and it was clear that if they were shut there would just be room to fit Tails and Sonic inside – with all the spikes inside them! Tails shivered in revulsion.

"I've seen them in horror movies," the fox shuddered. "It's, a, what is it, erm, Iron Maiden?"

"This is no time to talk about heinously bogus music!" Sonic complained. "We've got to get out of here, lil bro."

There was no way back as a hundred pendulums swung barely a centimetre above the ground in the passageway beyond. The hedgehog looked around for any possible means of escape. Above him, maniacal laughter boomed around the dank and dirty chamber.

"Welcome! Ha, ha, ha! Welcome to Castle Robotnik! Welcome to my nightmare, hedgehog! Ha, ha, ha!"

"What are you trying this time, most heinous deranged mad genius-type lunatic?" Sonic bellowed, with just a touch of overkill. "And just what have you done to our friends?!" he shouted again, more angrily.

"You will see, you will see! Spielbot, work the camera around for a close-up on the fox, he looks really scared," Robotnik gloated. Above them, they could see a wall-mounted camera swivelling and a zoom lens shoot forward. Angrily, Sonic whirled into a Super Spin, shot upwards, and bounced the camera into a pile of useless junk.

"You blue menace! You'll pay for this!" Robotnik's furious voice screamed from the hidden loudspeaker. "You'll never get out alive! You're doomed, I said, doomed! Ha, ha, ha!"

Sonic, however, had seen the crack in the wall close to where he had smashed the camera. And with another prodigious leap, he launched himself at it. He saw stars after impact and whirled unsteadily back to the ground, but now the duo could see a hole smashed in the wall; rainwater was dripping in from above. It meant that there must be a way out of the castle dungeons!

* * *

Sonic and Tails flew upwards leaving the enraged screams of the mad Dr Robotnik behind them. They managed to get their paws anchored onto the wet earth at the top of the chute and haul themselves back into the stormy night.

A sudden flash of lightning high above them revealed the gates of Castle Robotnik in the near distance and, as they stared at the gothic wrought-iron of the gates, they silently opened. Rushing down the drive of the castle, the whinnying of frightened horses and the cracking of whips advancing before it, came a black carriage with a ghostly rider atop it. Maniacal laughter trailed in its wake.

"Here we go again." Sonic grumbled. "And not even time for a take five-type snack break between scenes!"

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

Some fun author notes and trivia about this chapter here:

'Sir Norbert' is my Shorty the Cybernik, without the Cybernik armour cameo of STC fame with 'Drizzle' being a very minor STC character cameo, Clive, from one or two of Tails' backup stories

_Shorty the Cybernik is owned by his creator, the STC-Online crew and the Fleetway comic company, I only own his alternate design in my Castle Robotnik adaptation, not the character himself _

'_Drizzle' / Clive is owned by his creator, the STC-Online crew and the Fleetway comic company, I only own his alternate design in my Castle Robotnik adaptation, not the character himself. _

'Bimbette the Thief' is inspired off of FFIX's Ruby or at least if I ever get round to drawing her, she will be that is.

Her real given name from me is Loraine

Whereas 'Thug's' given real name from me is Boxer

_The idea of 'BIMETTE the thief' is owned by Martin Adams who wrote Castle Robotnik under Virgin Books but Loraine and any drawn design I make of her will belong to me with the aforementioned credited, naturally._

_The idea of 'Thug the Barbarian' is owned by Martin Adams who wrote Castle Robotnik under Virgin Books but any drawing or design I do of him will be belong to me with credit to the aforementioned, naturally._

A cameo from Tekno will be later on. Heh-heh.

And yes, the whole 'Dark One Who Mustn't Be Named' is a Harry Potter reference, but don't worry… They'll be no Voldemort or Harry Potter crossover in Sonic Unlimited. Don't take that to mean they'll be _no_ crossover with another series in the future though. Heh-heh.

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!

Would've had this up yesterday if hadn't been a pain and not letting me edit my documents --

I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up as I want to focus on the next chapter of 'Tides of Light, in Chaos', plus Spore and Sonic Chronicles come out soon, and I return to work next Monday so yeah…

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. **smiley face**


	7. The Butler Did It!

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

_--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--_

* * *

**CHAPTER 7: The Butler Did It! **

**Castle Grounds / Castle Basement / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 03: 45 AM**

Sonic and Tails barely leapt out of the way of the madly careening carriage in time. By now, they weren't in the slightest bit surprised to see a Headless Horseman driving the carriage on into the raging storm.

"I sure wasn't surprised to see a Headless Horseman driving that carriage into that raging storm," Tails said ever helpfully. "I suppose it's some kind of special effect."

"Yeah," Sonic said coolly, "but that wasn't what was really radically spooky about it."

"The horses didn't have any head either."

"Oh," Tails gave a little noise, like a small, frightened fox giving a small, frightened yelp.

As they approached the open gates, Tails had a brainwave of his own.

"Sonic, I think I know what Robotnik's doing apart from making a movie," he said. Sonic looked interested and nodded him on. "Think about it. We've met a werewolf that looked abit like me, and zombie chickens that looked a little bit like your old mate Chirps… Robotnik's making us all into horror film monsters!"

Sonic looked disgruntled. Thinking about complicated concepts like that didn't please him. He felt much better doing things like smashing Robotnik's cameras, so he distracted himself a few moments by bouncing on top of two mounted atop the castle gates. Satisfied by that, and tucking into the remains of a barbecue crisps packet he'd found stuffed within his spines so fast that they didn't get even the slightest bit soggy in the pouring rain, he let Tails continue.

"I suppose, it's the next thing for him to try," Tails offered. "Remember, he's failed in trying to imprison us in robotic Prison Eggs, failed to robotize us, failed to turn us into kitchen utensils, failed to ensure we never existed and failed to infect us with computer viruses," Tails said, handily summing most of their freedom fighter missions to date. "Now he's going to turn us into videogame-style monsters! Another of his eggsperi- sorry, I mean experiments."

"I suppose it makes a crazy kind of sense," Sonic said doubtfully. He still couldn't see why Robotnik would go to such lengths, again. He didn't know about the Mobius Prize Robotnik 

wanted to win, and he certainly didn't know what Robotnik was building 0in the great tower atop the castle… Whoops! Erm, forget we mentioned that.

_Just what was he trying to accomplish?_ Sonic was thinking.

"Oh no!" Tails clasped his paws over his eyes. "Think – Antoine's already been bitten by a vampire bat! So perhaps there something in the bat's bite which may be turning Antoine into a monster right now! Some new, heinous substance from the Chemical Plant Zone or something. Sonic, we've got to move fast!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Sonic agreed.

* * *

They shot off up the drive and stood before the great wooden doors of the castle. They could especially now that it was really huge, but then, it did have five towers and high stone walls. And as they tried to take this all in, the wooden doors creaked open and before them stood what appeared to be a penguin in a tuxedo with long flowing black coat-tails. He was very tall, very thin and very pale indeed.

Upon closer inspection the duo quickly noticed that he was actually rather un-penguin like, something the two protruding tusks around the mouth area that gave it away well. If they had to think about who it resembled it would definitely be-

"Good evening, gentlemen," the walrus said in a really slimy voice. "The Count is expecting you for dinner."

"Yikes!" Tails exclaimed to Sonic. "The werewolf was going to eat us, and now –"

"No, persons of savagely limited intelligence are permitted," the walrus said smoothly. _Though we'll make an exception with the 'radically cool' hedgehog, I suppose_, was what he'd wanted to say next, but thought best not to. "You are to take dinner with the Count. He has so few visitors these days, he will be, thus, very glad to have the company."

"Why would we want to have dinner with this bogus dude, especially one who we've never met before?" Sonic said suspiciously. He wanted to stomp this butler, but the similarity to Rotor was a bit disconcerting.

"Because I make the finest pizza on all of Mobius," the walrus said, raising his eyebrows slightly. "With every topping you request and beautifully melted cheese, bubbling and browned to a degree of absolute perfection, with a tray of different relishes, ketchups and –"

Sonic was finding it hard to speak, because he was drooling so much. Even Tails was finding it hard to resist. "Okay, well, like, let's see this Count dude, Sonic slobbered. "Go heavy on the sweetcorn and pepperoni and easy on the peppers, okay?"

"As you wish, sir," the walrus said gladly. "Please walk this way." He strolled casually into the gloomy hall of the castle.

The fox sniggered to Sonic and said to Sonic, "I'd rather not. He walks kinda funny…"

Sonic glowered. "Come on, buddy, this is a time for better jokes than that."

"I think we ought to take a look around to see what we're up against," Tails whispered to Sonic as they padded along behind the walrus. "Then we can smash it up." He knew Sonic's first instinct would be to bounce anything and everything in sight, but Tails wanted to know what they were letting themselves in for before getting radically aggressive. Sonic usually needed to be carefully persuaded of the wisdom of such caution. For his part, the hedgehog merely grunted and continued to glower.

"We also have to find out exactly what Robotnik is up to before we smash it up. We may have to find some kind of cure for Antoine if he really is turning into a vampire, and let's not forget about the others," Tails added in a whisper. Reluctantly, Sonic agreed, even though he still didn't think that Antoine was in any real danger and was just having a worser day than usual.

"Excuse me, tall, dark and uninteresting. I don't think I caught your name," Tails said to the walrus, catching up to his shoulder.

"I am Ferdy, the Count's butler," the walrus said very smoothly as he walked ever on.

"Ferdy? Isn't that a funny name for a walrus?" Tails asked.

"Well, sir, if you ask me Tails is a pretty dumb name for a fox. It shows your parents had no imagination," the walrus replied in a superior tone of voice.

An angry snarl trickled quickly out of Tails' mouth before he could help it, causing the walrus to smirk ever so slightly to himself. The twin-tailed fox quickly regained his composure though, letting his troubled memories sink away once more. "Oh, that's not my real name, it's just a nickname that everyone calls me by," Tails informed him. "Do you have a nickname too?"

"Certainly not," the walrus retorted, sounding slightly offended. "A gentleman's gentleman such as myself would never have an appellation so vulgarly common."

"Oooh! Pardon me for existing, I'm sure," Tails said rather crossly. He slouched back and rejoined Sonic, who was taking in the décor as they crossed the immerse hallway.

The candle lit hallway was lengthy but narrow, and the bottom half looked recently dusted and polished, whereas the ceiling was covered in spider and dust infested cobwebs. Cheap, old tat of paintings of mad old hatter looking folks that can't have been a Robotnik relative lined the walls.

"Look at all of this," the hedgehog snarled. "Totally bogus... suits of armour and shields and heraldry and all that boring old stuff. I bet those suits of armour are robots. And there's only one way to find that out, dude." He whirled and spun and flew into the nearest suit of armour, stood up against the wall. When he'd finished demolishing it, he discovered that it was just a suit of armour after all.

"Would you gentlemen kindly not mind behaving like total hooligans," the butler said with a steely edge beneath his ever-polite tone of voice. Sonic was beginning to dislike this walrus intensely, but he also felt very sheepish.

"Uh, like, most radically sorry, domestic-servant-type guy," he said. "I just thought, like, that maybe someone was hiding in there. Spying on the Count, ya know. You can't be too careful these days-"

"If someone was spying on the Count, I'd know about it, sir," the walrus replied frostily, and there was an evil gleam in his deep, misty green eyes. "Now, would you care to have entrées served in the guest lounge prior to dining?"

Tails had no idea what the butler meant, but he said yes anyway. He guessed that Ferdy would go away to fetch the entrées, whatever they were, and then he and Sonic could do a little private snooping.

"Wow, like fab to the max, this is great!" Tails enthused as they ushered into a very comfortable room. The chairs were huge and covered in soft cushions, and there was a massive video player and 'Megatendo' games console and yes Robotnik put that one together himself. Despite that little glitch in the system, the fox's tails were twitching already, and it looked abit like heaven to Sonic too, who was surprisingly relaxed and composed in spite of the given luxury.

"Would sirs care for a selection of nachos, crisps, nuts and cola?" the butler said: it was plain he had been briefed on his guests' culinary favourites.

"Well, thanks dude, don't mind if we do," Sonic said breezily. He was looking for hidden cameras. He guessed that there must be one in the thrown together looking console and he was working himself up to bouncing it. The walrus retired to the lounge doorway, bowed stiffly, coughing a violent short-lived cough and closing the doors behind as he left. Sonic bounced the garbage console. It fell apart, but there weren't any cameras inside it, to his displeasure.

"Hey, cool it, buddy, I thought we were going to look around this place," Tails said. "I mean, cant we at least get the pizza before we smash anything up? I work better on a full stomach, as do you."

"This Count," Sonic growled. "It's got to be Robotnik. He's going to try and destroy us again. It's all a trap, I just know it."

"Maybe it isn't," Tails said slowly. He was trying to think of an alternative explanation, and here it came. "A Count – maybe he's a vampire! Oh no!"

"Look, you foolish fox, vampires don't really exist! It's all a plot by Robotnik," Sonic said crossly.

"That's what Antoine said, and look what happened to him. I hope Sally managed to keep up with the process of putting rings of garlic around his neck like she said she would before she and he and everyone got captured…" the fox said anxiously. Any further reply from Sonic was cut off as the lounge doors opened and the tall, thin walrus strolled in with a silver tray piled high with snacks.

"Please be so good as to ring the bell for service should you require it," the walrus sleazed, bowing again. "Dinner will be served at five o' clock sharp."

"Is there, like, somewhere where I can freshen myself up before dinner?" Sonic asked, not sure why he was really saying this. It was getting a little weird for him. The walrus, however, gave him a beaming, tusk-full smile.

"Most certainly... I have in mind that sir might wish to brush his spines, and, err, clean his rather disreputable-looking footwear?" Sonic looked sheepish. "Well, sir, guest rooms have been prepared for you in the Blue Tower."

"I bet they have," Sonic muttered. The butler pretended not to have heard him, having at the time been glowering at the scrap heap that was the remnants of the games console, that he'd so took the time to setup for these barbarians…

"If you would be so good as to follow me, I will serve you your entrées in your guest suite," the walrus offered, having regained his stiffly composure. Tails thought he was quite persuasive. Sonic thought he was an oily sleazeball.

"Just through here, sir," the butler smarmed as he led them past the lounge and up the marooned carpet-wrapped staircase to a small doorway with a curved archway atop it. "Up the staircase and first on your left. There is a service bell should you require –"

"Yes, thank-you, captain tusk-sticks," Sonic interrupted him rudely, grabbing the tray of goodies."See you for dinner, dude." The walrus walked sedately off down the corridor. Sonic hurtled up the stairs and knocked down the door, which was tough to do without spilling the nuts everywhere, but he managed it.

* * *

**Guest Suite / The Blue Tower / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 04: 20 AM**

"Crikey, this is superfabuloso!" Tails said delightedly. "Look! Real four-poster beds, wow!" Tails just had to have a bounce on those white washed sheets, covered with crimson. "And those big windows with the funny drapes which were also crimson just like you get in, err…"

"Just like you get in any vampire movie," Sonic teased him. "And there aren't any mirrors here either. Bogus or what?"

"So we can't tell if the Count is a vampire by checking to see if he has a reflection in the mirror!" Tails squeaked.

"No, you dweeb. I can't see how cool my spines look when I've finished combing them," the hedgehog retorted coolly.

* * *

Eggor was getting confused. Robotnik had changed his mind and wouldn't show him his Grand Eggsperiment on the top floor of the Great Tower. Robotnik had clearly been making another movie, before there was another robot film crew somewhere in the castle, and Eggor had to make a whole bunch of sensor scans to track them down. He reviewed their commands from a computer, and realized that they didn't have anything to do now that Robotnik had abandoned his _Dungeons and Dweebs™_ movie project in favour of _Castle Robotnik_.

Eggor didn't like that smarmy Spielbot. He was jealous, and when his inner core's self, Snively, was jealous, he usually opted to do something about it. That Spielbot talked too smoothly and seemed too sure of itself. What's more, it was giving all the commands to the film crew, which should've been _his_ job. Eggor had already seen the script for his own part in the final scene for Robotnik's movie, and he wanted to make absolutely sure that he looked really good in it. He didn't trust Spielbot to make him look that good.

An idea began to form in the deeper recesses of his being. Surely the first film crew had nothing to do, and the master would surely want them to occupy their time usefully, he thought. And master says he will be very, very busy with his Grand Eggsperiment. I would be very useful, and a really good robot, if I saved him the time of bothering with them, wouldn't I? Of course I would!

With a thin metallic smile hovering around his face, Eggor began to program the computer.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

Hmm time is pressing on a lot forward than I'd hoped, as I was trying to condense this whole adventure into Halloween night, but short of a deux ex machina plot hole that radically slows down time in Robotnik's Castle than I'm out of trumps.

Oh well, two days worth it is then! -shrugs-

And yes, the 'Megatendo' was a Megadrive & SNES spoof, since I figured Robotnik would be a cheapskate even if he does own most of the planet and it's wealth, and cobble some garbage hybrid of the two together instead of buying either of the real things! XD

I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!

I would've done this sooner but the last week especially has been rather stressing, so I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. **half smiley face**


	8. Dinner With A Vampire

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

* * *

_--Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM--_

* * *

**CHAPTER 8: Dinner With A Vampire **

**Guest Suite / The Blue Tower / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 04: 55 AM**

"Oh, wow! Fandabidozee!" Tails exclaimed over excitedly. He'd found a brand new dinner-suit in the white, oak made wardrobe of their guest suite, and he thought that he looked really cool in it. Sonic didn't have the heart to point out, that with his two white-tipped tails poking out at the back, that the fox looked faintly ridiculous.

"I'm sure you should dress formally for dinner as well," he teased Sonic. The hedgehog just laughed.

"My sneakers are clean now and my spines are totally splendiferous, and that's smarter than anything on Mobius," he replied.

Just then there was a gentle knock at the guest room's door, which quickly opened to reveal the butler.

"The Count awaits the pleasure of your company," smarmed the walrus, and then retreated back outside.

"Like, where did he learn to speak like that?" Sonic pondered. "It's just grody. If he was anymore slimy, he'd be a slug. And I'm not speaking monkey rhyming slang either."

They opened the door and looked carefully down the stone spiral staircase that they'd sped up only half hour odd ago, expecting traps to come down at any moment. But, despite their fears, they their way to the little door at the bottom safely and skipped along to the lounge. And standing in front of the lit fireplace and looking as unhinged as ever, and waiting for them was Ferdy the Butler.

"The dining hall is just along there to the right," he said helpfully, pointing towards a great, blood stained-looking wooden door with a rusted metallic rim, which must surely have lead into the aforementioned dining room. "May I humbly wish you a pleasant dining experience?"

"What a dweeb," Sonic said in annoyance as they left the butler behind once again to get on with his boring butlery duties. He couldn't really get cross though, as his nose was already twitching at the wonderful smell of pizza coming up ahead.

* * *

The hedgehog raced into the feast hall with a fox determined not to be done out of his fair share right behind him. Thankfully to Ferdy's ever watchful sly eye, the tall dining room door swung back from the duo's barged force into its closed position.

The hall beyond it was vast, which had the usual and now familiar flame-breathing candles lining the walls to set the scene, these were never that far away from the tall, clear windowpanes that looked to be covered with black ivy. This, along with everything else really made the whole scene look right out of any haunted house horror movie.

The room was also gifted with one of those great, long medieval tables that seem to go on forever. Sonic reckoned he could have sat a hundred of his chums around it, but he was a little glad that they weren't here right now. There wasn't enough pizza for that many.

There was silver cutlery, bone china plates, slavers, more candlesticks, as well as ornamental shields on the wall, crossed swords over the fireplace and – well, Sonic didn't about any of that stuff.

So forgetting about his manners, he just launched himself at the nearest metre-diameter pizza. It was sweetcorn, tuna and anchovy, with mozzarella as thick as the deep pile, beige carpet on the floor, and it tasted totally wonderful. He hadn't realized until now just how famished he'd been! He slurped up slices of pizza like, well, like a hungry vampire in a blood bank.

"I see zat you enjoying yourselves," a deep, bass voice came, booming from behind the huge black curtains, with tattered ends, which covered the windows at the far end of the hall. They looked up, tomato paste smeared all over their mouths, to take in the hulking, cloaked figure swathed in darkness.

Tails shrank back into a chair at the end of the table furthest away from the creature, and realized as he looked around that the doors to the feast hall had been closed. And he knew that they'd been barged open before by him and Sonic… so he gave a small squeak of fear, but Sonic didn't seem fazed at all.

It didn't surprise him that Ferdy would seal them in here with his master, otherwise why the absence of service at dinner here and now?

* * *

"Greetings, Count-dude," the hedgehog said casually as he carved up a slice of the pepperoni pizza next in line. "Your butler really knows how to, err, buttle. This is groovy pizza, dude."

"Zee has been with me for thee longest time," the cloaked figure said mysteriously, in an odd accented tone, before advancing into the half-light from the fire and small lamps in the hall. Then even Sonic shrank backwards.

To stifle back a loud chuckle that is!

As it was then that it hit home for the duo especially Sonic, what with the Count dude's dodgy accent, those blonde yet messier locks, that sword in his back pocket he couldn't seem to handle… why the Count was none other than Antoine!

_Wasn't he…?_

"Haha… Come on Ant, stop fooling around, haha. That Halloween costume makes you look ridiculous!" Sonic chimed out, pointing and laughing at Count in front of him, who looked none too amused at being mocked.

Tails, for a change, had been the last one to notice it at least until Sonic had started his usual 'Mock Ant' tirade, but there was no doubt about it, the Count looked awfully similar, no, the _same_, as their teammate Antoine!

_Had the vampire curse accelerated in growth this fast whilst we were away and by the time the others were captured outside?_ Tails pondered, racking his brains to figure this all out. He didn't reach any revelation though, and so he decided to see how things panned out before doing it some more, quickly snatching that pepperoni piece that Sonic had been about to eat out from under his and the Count's noses.

Count 'Antoine' himself wore his usual dark blue soldier's uniform with red lining, with its coat tails flailing out behind him. Except these coat tails were tattered, his skin was white, nearing on greyish and cracked. Even worse were his eyes, which glowed a weird, hypnotic red. His black cloak, lined with red silk, billowed out behind him dramatically.

"What is zee nonsense?! Calm down you flea-ridden foole! Pray sit and _eat_," the coyote vampire hybrid spoke, lowering his erupted temper slightly in inviting them to eat. "It is being so rare zat I haff company."

"Yeah, Ferdy-dude told us," Sonic said. At that very moment, as if he'd been waiting for his cue, the butler emerged from the door on the hall's other side, carrying a large decanter of red wine and a single glass. He placed it down before the Count as the latter sat his small, formally wimpy form at the head of the table.

"Manners, Ferdy," the Count reprimanded gently. "Perhaps our guest's vould be caring for a glass also?"

"No thanks, your _Countship_," Sonic declined, somewhat cheekily, trying his hardest not to continue his verbal abuse at Antoine, vampire extraordinaire! "Wine makes me feel kind of, well, sick actually. I'll stick to the fizzy stuff."

The coyote Count laughed as the butler quickly padded away. "Vine! Ah, you are making such jokes, you silly hedgehogs." He poured himself another glass of the thick red liquid.

Tails had a horrid suspicion, but decided to keep it to himself, at least for the time being. "So have you lived here, like a long time, Mr Count?" He asked politely. He just wanted to learn everything he could about 'monster-Antoine', and hopefully about the beginnings of a cure, and then get out of here, rescue the others… The Count's glowing red eyes were very disturbing and made the fox feel extremely uncomfortable, as it was if he could pierce through and see what he was thinking, and he didn't look none too pleased either way.

"Indeed. My family haff lived here for centuries," the Count replied proudly.

Sonic wondered what on Mobius was going on. He knew that the castle can't have been here for more than a month or two, because he and Sal had been on their rare, lone forays in the Scrap Brain Zone not too long ago and there hadn't been any sign of the place then. He didn't 

know whether to stomp Count Ant, run for the door or what; but the pizza was great and he wanted to eat a lot more before making any hasty decisions he might regret come dinner time.

"Oh, umm, that's triffically interesting," Tails said rather hopelessly. He was scared now and all Sonic was doing with stuffing his face with pizza. He hadn't noticed the demise of the last pepperoni slice he'd swiped earlier, it seemed also, thankfully for him!

"Ahh," the Count sighed as he drained his glass. "AB negative, and such a lovely vintage too. I only vish I had more in ze cellar."

"The cellar?" Tails said, perking up. "Where is that, exactly?"

The Count laughed evilly something that looked majorly creepy on this Antoine's face, marionette or not. "Now, my friends, you cannot expect for me to tell you zat. Because zen vould find my coffins and destroy zem!"

Suddenly, the Count stood bolt upright, flinging glass and decanter off the table with a swipe of his clawed hand. His eyes blazed with a maniacal red-hot fury.

"Hateful wretches!" –_COUGH_- "I vill drink your bloods zis night, you fooles!" He lumbered forward, cloak floating in the air behind him.

* * *

SLAPP! The first pizza hit the Count full in the face. Sonic had been expecting this at any moment and his aim had been perfect. And as the creature mopped several kilos of pizza toppings from his face and uniform, the hedgehog leapt onto the table, jumped up to the crystal chandelier, spun crazily around on it and bounced down on the Count's head. As he did, he saw more of the swivelling wall-mounted cameras above the shields on one wall, and he even thought he heard the faint ripple of applause.

"This is totally bogus!" he yelled to Tails as the stunned Count struggled to stay upright, and shaking uncontrollably. "Come on, little dude, let's find Robotnik and put a stop to all this monster nonsense and find our friends! Catch ya later, Ant!"

The furious hedgehog smashed the door down and raced into the hall, leaving a screaming enraged vampire behind them, who'd suddenly shifted into Antoine's familiar OCD like disorder having seen the heinous stains on his attire. The only problem was for the duo now, was that there were several doors leading off in the hall and they didn't know which one might have an obese, world dominating madman lurking behind it.

"Where did that bogus butler go?" Sonic asked Tails. The fox wasn't sure, but as they looked around they saw an open door far along down the hall. The smell of pizza seemed to come from there, as well.

"The kitchens," Tails pointed out. "I bet he's in there, buttling away!"

Sonic raced down the hall and straight into the kitchen. There was no immediate sign of Ferdy among the pots, pans and clutter but… as ever, as if on cue, the slimy butler came down from the ceiling, narrowly missing Sonic's with his large tusks.

"Ahh, so the slimy butler finally makes his reappearance. How are you posh-dude, still being a sleaze-ball as –"

The hedgehog couldn't finish his taunting as the demented walrus swiped again at him, this time with his large clawed hands. It was then that Sonic and then Tails noticed that Ferdy looked _different_ than before, as covering his hands and face at least, was a slimy green and toxic-looking substance that just oozed from every pore, dripping onto the floor, and leaving melted marks in it. It looked like Ferdy was either falling apart or his monster self was finally here to play.

"Bring it on, SLIME-DUDE!" Sonic taunted Ferdy again; beckoning with his hands like a bull tamer does to encourage a bull to charge. Tails meanwhile, his eyes wide, hid behind one of the kitchen tables, fearful to look at the decaying creature.

Sonic's plane meanwhile had worked, and the seemingly vocal-less and simply primal Ferdy came charging at the blue hedgehog, ready for spilt blood, ready to melt that abominable hedgehog into a puddle of mush!

Unfortunately for Ferdy, today wasn't going to be his day to shine, and Sonic got some air left with a handstand, which left the charging Ferdy the Slime heading straight towards the garbage chute. And in spite of his trying to turn and stop himself, Ferdy couldn't, and for his troubles was bonked on the head by Sonic which felt _so good_ for the hedgehog, and his slimy-walrus hide was thrown head first into and down the garbage chute.

That was one posh butler who'd never be able to live in the glorious sun ever again, at least.

As Tails came out of his hiding place, Sonic scolded himself out loud. "Drat! I should've at least asked slimy-busybody where Robotnik is burying his bulging butt."

"Don't worry Sonic, you couldn't have done anything more. That Ferdy guy was bonkers! I doubt you could've got anything out of him…" Tails said reassuringly.

"I guess so, buddy, so how was the kitchen floor? Clean enough for you?" Sonic replied, with a tease, putting on a silly grin at his fox pal's expense.

"It was just fine," the fox pouted, embarrassed at his own actions, at least until Sonic gave him the wink and thumbs up sign, which meant that everything was a-okay.

Regaining his composure, Tails sprouted out an idea out loud. "Perhaps there's a secret passageway that leads to Robotnik behind the larder door?"

The hedgehog shrugged, thinking of no better course of action than going back to be Vamp-Antoine's desserts, and threw open the cupboard door. He'd found the larder, and to his delight it was absolutely packed with frozen pizza, pizza bases, packs of mozzarella cheese, and whole boxes of packs of crisps, nuts, and nachos. He just couldn't resist it, even though Tails was right behind him and yelling at him to stop. Sonic grabbed for a box of crisps – pizza flavour – but, as he did so, the floor of the larder disappeared underneath him!

* * *

Tails looked in utter horror at the empty space in front of him. One minute there had been a super-cool blue hedgehog standing there amongst goodies galore, and now everything had vanished. He stared at the black abyss of space where the larder had been. It looked like an awfully long drop and he couldn't see the bottom. As he peered really closely to figure out whether he could risk jumping down after his friend, the floor of the larder came rushing back up at max velocity and stopped like the top of an elevator a few centimetres below the twitching muzzle of the fox. There was no sign of Sonic.

Around him, the desperate fox heard the amplified sound of Robotnik's laughter as yet another camera swivelled around to close-up on Tails' horrified face.

"Ha ha ha! Perhaps, Spielbot, we should make it a feature film after all. With any luck, it will only be a short! Ha ha ha!"

Behind him, Tails heard the unmistakeable sound of an advancing vampire. Well, he'd never heard it before, but if that half-swishing, half-chuckling noise wasn't the unmistakable sound of an advancing vampire he certainly didn't want to know what it really was. And with that, the fox whimpered softly and put his paws over his eyes.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

Yes, another quick update but then this is a very short chapter in the book.

I've decided to write out most, if not all the chapters, before I post one each day maybe up to Halloween itself, who knows? This is enjoyable to write, edit and reminisce about, but it's making me slack off the other two stories I have going and my art work!

So once 'Castle Robotnik' is all said and done, will probably be the time that 'Tides of Light, In Chaos' and 'SSBB: Requiem of Chaos Prelude' will be updated again.

It mostly depends on what goes down next week at my University regarding my supposed degree results and the like…

* * *

But alias… I hope you like this little adaptation with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in so far especially those who had read the original book!.

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. **half smiley face**


	9. Nightmare On Robotnik St

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 9: Nightmare On Robotnik St. **

**Underground Depths / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 05: 28 AM**

Sonic plummeted downwards for what seemed forever, but in fact lasted just under a second. The drop would have left most animals in a very sad – not to mention very flat – state on the stone floor he landed on, but Sonic knew how to fall and roll, and he was pretty much unfazed when he picked himself up and took a look around him. As he did so, the pantry-elevator he'd been thrown out of ascended behind him. Wherever he was, he was trapped.

For a moment, he thought he must be in the Chemical Plant Zone. He appeared to be in an endless, not to mention huge, subterranean chamber full of machinery. Boilers, engines and pumps hissed out cough-inducing steam and battered out a rhythm of noise everywhere. The poor hedgehog could hardly hear himself think, and thinking was hard enough to do at the best of times. Sonic wandered about in the smog, trying his hardest not to inhale a fatal dosage of the foul smelling gas, which was like a mixture between petrol and eggs [in other words, eww!]

Sonic nevertheless, continued to wander about, looking for a way out. He didn't find one, but at least he'd managed to get away from the nosiest and foulest smelling machines, and get a little peace. He was getting angry now at all of this, and had just decided to do some stomping and ruin Robotnik's machines for him when he saw a tall, dark figure in the mist ahead.

_Oh no, don't say this is gonna be a case of 'Ferdy Returns' or some cliché like that_, Sonic thought to himself, figuring that the garbage disposal unit may been somewhere near.

Luckily [and unluckily] for the blue superhero, it _wasn't_ Ferdy, but something far worse.

* * *

The mist dispersed dramatically ahead, as if on cue, revealing a figure that Sonic unfortunately recognised all too well.

The creamy [yet dirty] light-brown skin, the purple leotard, the white fluffed curls on either side of the face, the bright green eyes [that were somewhat enclosed], and the shimmering metallic limbs could only mean one thing, Bunnie Rabbot.

And that wasn't the only thing this lady was packing either, no soirée!

Attached to her robotic arm were a set of five very long, curved blades, and her face was covered by a pale, white mask, alike that of a hockey player or… a psychotic murderer.

The mad grin on her grungy face wasn't helping matters either. And those long, curved blades looked more than capable of shredding a hedgehog, even super-heroic mega-dude hedgehog, into hedgehog pâté.

_Why do I get the feeling that she isn't gonna be one for happy families and Robuttnik-kicking right about now?_ Sonic thought to himself nervously, edging backwards slightly, his nerves now on full alert.

Sonic had seen equally nasty things on Robotnik's nasty little robots before, but the way 'Bunnie' hopped about suggested that he wasn't gonna be able to deal with her in quite so easy a fashion.

"Heh heh! Here comes Ferdy! I'm back from the grave! Heh heh!" the weird Bunnie look-alike crooned as it raced toward him, its blades spinning and slicing through the air. Sonic ducked its first lunge, kicked its legs from underneath it, and scampered off amongst the array of boilers and machines.

* * *

_Geez-Louise… So there's two 'Ferdy's' now is there, and one of them is a Bunnie rip-off?_

_Do I smell… sibling monsters?_

_No, wait up mega-cool central… That'd be a Walrus + Rabbit…_

_Eww…_

Sonic's random thoughts raced around his head like this as he spied on his prey in question, waiting for just the _right_ moment to…

_BONK!_

He'd caught 'Ferdy-Bunnie' a second time with a really neat head stomp, leaping down from atop a boiler and driving down real hard with his power sneakers. 'Bunnie' fell over, but she got up almost immediately, her grin wider and more horrible than before.

_Oh bummer_, Sonic thought grimly; _this is going to be much tougher than I originally imagined it to be! Just how do you stop a Bunnie Rabbot wannabe? And what has Robotnik been doing with them all? I'm going to have to work doublely hard this time to stop him._

Sonic ducked and raced and weaved through the machinery, with the psycho in hot pursuit.

"Come to Ferdy! Ferdy's gonna get you good! Slice you into hedgehog ribbons, oh yes!" the ghastly thing snarled as its blades snicker-snacked ahead of it.

The hedgehog was getting angrier and angrier, not only at this abomination nut-job version of one of his friends, but because he really didn't know what to do. His Bunnie was pretty much unstoppable when she got going–

_SWIPE!_

"Yikes!" the hedgehog exclaimed, having just reacted in time to avoid a beheading, but at the loss of one or two [formally], pampered and pried spines. Now they were just strands in the wind…

_No good hedgehog, no good. That was too close!_ He thought, increasingly the distance between 'Bunnie' and himself once again.

* * *

Sonic then caught sight of a generator across the open space, with a large sign painted on it in big red letters: 'DANGER, EXTREMELY HIGH VOLTAGE!'

He was about to race to it but the psychotic-rabbit had cottoned onto his plan all too quickly and using its extendable metallic limbs, stood in one spot and extended her legs upward and over, arms stretched outwards, as she pursued intended victim via the air.

_Oh man, I forgot about her ease of mobility!_

_And just what monster-cliché did that make Ferdy then, I wonder… A slimy Uncle Lurch? _

'Bunnie' had almost caught up to him now and was swiping desperately with her fatally blade-covered arm and her iron fist of the other arm, in a deranged and frantic attempt to ensure its survival, coughing violently now all the way.

Luckily for our super-cool blue hedgehog, his aerobatic skills were very much unmatched, even by the real southern belle herself, and grabbing a handful of rings that'd been suspended in midair, only served to heighten his energy levels to evade.

He'd reached the generator now, and with that the 'Ferdy-Bunnie' made one last ditch effort, by jumping real high [narrowly missing the ceiling], and bomb-diving down him, eyes blood red and maniacal-induced drool seeping down and off the corners of its mouth.

Immediately, Sonic took hold of a power lead as thick as one of his arms and pulled really hard.

'Bunnie' had almost caught up with now, and for a second Sonic thought he might actually meet his maker, as he turned increasingly red from the sheer pulling effort. Sonic huffed and puffed and he strained and groaned. He pulled and wrenched with pure desperation, small beads of sweat trickling down his back, and then the lead came jerking out of the generator. The recoil was so great that Sonic lost his grip on the lead and went spinning off into the distance, just stopping short of the boiler door. The lead danced crazily, like a snake which had just eaten a raw chilli, and whipped around in the air. It struck 'Ferdy-Bunnie' on its murderous-equipped blade arm, sparking off all the surrounding metal.

* * *

It was a terrific firework display, the sort that really deserved a huge chorus of 'Ooohs' and 'Aaahs' from an appreciative crowd. A humungous number of volts generated brilliant blue sparks everywhere and 'Ferdy-Bunnie' lit up a delightful blue colour, and then a rather nastier purple colour. And the extremely violent coughing and shrieks made it all the more horrible for Sonic to look at, as it like partially blowing up a friend, kinda, sorta, so he covered his eyes. It was the kind of thing, which to kids is so wonderful that adults on TV always say to never do it at home.

And when Sonic finally took his paws off of his eyes, there wasn't much left of it apart from two sets of metal lying on the floor glowing cherry-red and one smoking leotard.

Unfortunately, the other machines in the boiler room didn't seem to be anything like as pleased with Sonic. Steam was beginning to pour out of some them and Sonic could see some pipes beginning to bulge and smoke as the lead continued to thrash around, generating great sprays of blue sparks. An alarming number of dials had needles on them hovering around the top of the red zone. That could only mean one thing: DANGER! [High voltage…]

Sonic knew that he had to get out of there fast. He raced around desperately looking for any sign of an escape route. Another few seconds could blow him into hedgehog slivers, and he knew it.

"You are doomed! Doomed! Ha, ha, ha!" the mocking laughter echoed around the boiler room and the frantic hedgehog's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

_No, it can't end… not like this!_ He was thinking. _It's too pathetic to be a hero's death!_

"Close-up on the villain!" a smooth robotic voice came, with a hint of familiar slime. Sonic couldn't see where it was coming from and he had no time to look for hidden cameras. He dived underneath one boiler just as another one, far across the room, exploded in a huge spray of superheated steam and water.

He lay, rolled up in a ball; just hoping the water wouldn't flood this far across the room and boil him alive. As he did, evil pink claws grabbed at him. Before he could react, he was completely bound in lengths of rope which were whipped around his spines faster than he could say 'Gimme a deep pan hot and spicy with extra cheese, hold the olives'. The claw scrabbled around his throat and he was dragged down in darkness. Blimey!

* * *

Spielbot was jabbering away to Robotnik. "Wonderful master! Only such an awesomely wise producer could manage such resources from an abandoned film to create scenes for another one. We got wonderful angles on the animals as they ran away! The fear on the hedgehog's face in the boiler room was perfect! I am proud to be associated with this movie," it concluded pompously.

Eggor thought that he'd better check the specifications on Spielbot's Grovelling Circuits, for they seemed to be dangerously overactive.

"Indeed, indeed," Robotnik gloated as he rubbed his hands together. Unfortunately, he was so pleased that he'd entirely forgot that he'd been holding onto his lunch at the same time. Egg yolk, a disgusting smelling topping sauce and slimy trails of egg white dripped from his fingers on to the green tiled [with grey outlines] laboratory floor. "I selected the chicken as the zombie template because it needed so little change. The zombies are only slightly less intelligent that that 'Chirps' thing, after all. It is very important the template eggsperiment is as successful as my wonderful movie," he said to 'Eggor'.

"Indeed, master," Eggor said quietly. He was still programming the film crew, and thinking devious thoughts in his inner sanctum of flesh.

"How are the preparations of the Black Tower coming along?" the madman asked Eggor, rubbing his eggy and smelly hands against his lips, and slobbering a lot. That made it difficult for Eggor to hear exactly what he was saying.

"Extremely well," Eggor answered flatly. "The last sarcophagus has just been installed."

"Excellent! Make sure everything is eggpedited there."

"We must have the right atmospherics, master," Spielbot interjected. "the lighting crew has been fitting everything to your specifications, sir."

A special-effects robot clanked into the dreary room. You could tell that it was a special-effects robot, not least because on its back the words 'SPECIAL EFFECTS ROBOT' were etched into the metal in green gleaming, futuristic letters.

"Excuse me, Assistant Director," it said to Spielbot, "we have a slight problem with the Phantasm Luminosity Regulator on the Grey Tower set."

"Problem? _Problem?!_" Robotnik roared. "There are no problems! There are only solutions! I will have you melted down for scrap!" The robot scuttled away as fast as it's caterpillar treads could take it.

"I shall go and deal with this problem," Spielbot intoned smoothly. "I will have my report within the hour, master."

"Good robot!" Robotnik said, regaining some self-control. He smiled benignly as Spielbot headed off to the laboratory doors, which slid smoothly open before it.

"Umm, master, shouldn't I be checking the Grey Tower if I'm the Director?" Eggor enquired, keeping his rage on a level base as he spoke out.

"No, no, Eggor," Robotnik said in a slightly eggsasperated tone, "leave that to the assistant director. You should be dealing only with the really important things, like SCUM."

"Ah, yes, the Synchronized Camera Utility Movement program," Snively-Eggor said, slightly reassured. He'd mastered that fully.

"Spielbot is not programmed to do such important tasks. He has been fitted with Creativity Circuits and, as we all know, creative types are utterly useless at anything practical. Apart from myself, of course. That is where you eggscel, my little henchman, Eggor. At such things as making sure that SCUM works efficiently and well. Now, is that accursed hedgehog ready for his next scene?"

Eggor almost panicked. His sensors were revealing nothing, so he stalled for time. "I have a fix on the fox, master."

"Pah! I'm not worried about him. We can – ha, ha! – eggspunge him now, for all I care. Where's Sonic?" Robotnik was quivering with pent-up rate. Speaking the hated name always made him feel like that, even more that Sally, the Acorn Princess bitch did. Little beads of sweat stood out on his pallid forehead. He looked disgusting, well, moreso than usual.

"I'm afraid that Spielbot's film crew have lost track of him," Eggor said evenly. He always knew how to switch the blame when he needed to; it was something that Snively had learnt growing up, especially regarding his father.

"What? _What??_" Robotnik wobbled with fury. It was hard to tell whether he was foaming at the mouth a little, or whether the icky stuff was just egg white dripping from his voluminous moustache. "Quick, Eggor, we must act now! We must take the elevator to the Great Tower! If that wretched hedgehog is loose in my castle, the great eggsperiment will need completion sooner than I thought! Besides we need to check our special guests…"

Eggor felt an oily thrill run through all of his circuits as he headed with his master toward the triple-locked elevator. At last, he was going to see the great eggsperiment revealed to him!

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

A/N: Yes I know having two 'Ferdy' characters is abit weird, and that I should've just changed the former's name to something else, but the butler will be back later on, and he won't be a murderer rip-off. Promise! XD

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	10. Last Action For A Hero

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 10: Last Action For A Hero? **

**Unknown Depths / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 05: 28 AM**

"Huh, so we meet again," snarled a familiar-kinda voice. Sonic couldn't see who was talking, because a blindfold had been slapped over his face and he'd been gagged as well. Being at something of a disadvantage, he tried to be polite.

"Pleased to meet you," the hedgehog said. Well, that what he tried to say, but it came out as something like, "Eeneeuyeetneeu."

"Ok, Scarface, take off the sucker's gag," the voice growled softly. "And you can take the blindfold off too".

"Aww, do I have to, Boss?" whined another thin and mean voice. "Can't I just, like, tie him up a bit tighter instead?"

"Do as I tell you or you'll be wearing concrete sneakers this time tomorrow, you dirty rat," the first voice snarled again.

Before the blindfold was reluctantly removed by the grubby rat minion, Sonic had realised who had captured him: Capone and his rats! He'd met them before and they were mean dudes. He groaned and his tummy gave a little lurch in sympathy. He'd have been better off being chased by Robotnik's Badnik's and Swatbots than being in the clutches of this rat gang.

Capone had changed a little since he'd last seen him. He was still a very big, sleek, scarred black rat, but in addition to his shades [which even Sonic had to admit were fairly cool], he was wearing a particularly neat line in pinstripe suits these days. Yeah, it was too traditional by superdude hedgehog standards, but it seemed to suit him. The massive rat bit the end off a cigar and stuck it in his mouth. A green feathered avian leaned across and lit it for him, a sad look creased over her face. The rat breathed in the smoke and coughed rather horribly, and looking faintly disgusted, threw the cigar to the ground.

"One of Robotnik's cheap imitations!" he snarled. "That makes me feel mean. You like-a that I feel mean, hedgehog?"

"You're looking way cool in those bodacious threads," Sonic said. Flattery, he hoped, would get him somewhere.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," snarled the huge rat. "And don't forget to call me Your Majesty, 'cos I'm King Rat, remember? And if you don't remember, then Scarface here will stimulate your memory with his gold tie pin. Now, look, sucker, let's get straight to the point. You're in this big movie that Robotnik's making, right?"

"Umm, right, Your Maj," Sonic played for time. He had to find out what Capone wanted, fool him into thinking he could get it for him, and then run away.

"Don't play for time, sucker. Don't think you can find out what I want, fool me into thinking you can get it for me and then run away. This isn't the old days, Sonic the Hedgehog…" the rat growled, spitting out disgustfully as the name 'Sonic' off of his tongue.

"It had never crossed my mind, Bodacious Majesty Dude," Sonic said politely, but inside he was beginning to wonder: _just how did he do that? He was never this smart back in the Emerald Hill Days…_

"Well, look, sucker. I assume, being the ever do-gooder that you are, that you have a good part in this movie, right?" The large rat loomed over Sonic now, with the twenty rats or so that were standing behind him moving a bit closer too. One or two of them were licking their lips, and the green avian female remained pathetically by Capone's side, her eyes downcast. And Sonic was sure that he could hear some of the rat pack talking to each other about spine removal and hedgehog pizza. Very 'tasteful' conversation, as you'd expect.

"Yep," Sonic said, trying to be sound brave[r than he felt]. "I've been in all the big scenes so far, Your Maj!"

"Huh," Capone sniffed, but Sonic could see that the big rat believed him. _Nice to see that some things never change_, he thought inwardly with a snigger. He guessed that the rat wanted a piece of the action, as always.

"Okay, I believe you. I want a piece of the action, right?"

"How do you do that?" Sonic asked him, puzzled.

"Do what?"

"Keep reading the script one line too late?" Capone gave him a puzzled look in return. "Oh well, it doesn't matter, superdude," said Sonic. "I guess it just shows you must have a radically natural acting talent," the hedgehog said, trying to charm his way out of his situation.

"Huh… Well you see here, you spiny blue freak, my little Te… *ahem* _Chloe_ here, says I'd look real good in a movie, you got me?" The green avian on Capone's arm simpered and waved her feathered neck scarf at the hedgehog [rather lamely]. "Now you tell me what kinda movie this is, and how you are gonna get me a lead role, right?"

"Don't forget the Big Guns, Your Majesty," piped up a small voice at the back of the rat pack.

"Shuddupayaface!" Capone bellowed. "I do the talking when we're dealing with freaks, right?" Sonic was getting angry now. Being called a freak twice inside a minute was too much for him.

"You asked me to remind you, Your Majesty," the unseen rat said defensively. "Just after we dumped Dillinger in the Mega Mack back in the Chemical Plant Zone…"

"Oh, yea, right," Capone growled softly. "Well, look, it's gonna be a heroic action movie, right? With lotsa Big Guns and shoot-outs and heists and that kinda stuff, you got me?"

The beginnings of a Really Brilliant Idea began to form in Sonic's brain. Actually, it was an Incredibly Stupid Idea except for one huge advantage, it was born of total ignorance of what Eggor-Snively was doing, and _that_ was what made it a Really Brilliant Idea.

"You know, it's funny that you should say that," Sonic began…

* * *

Tails peeped through his paws, and above him towered the Count. His appearance had changed, and not for the better. Now he wearing a black, top hat and a quite exceptionally silly pair of round-lensed, purple-tinted glasses perched on his nose. [_Just try and imagine Antoine in that getup, its hilarious right?_]

"Eeeek! Don't bite me Antoine!" Tails pleaded.

"Vhy vould I vant to bite you? And vho is vis Antoine you speak of?" the Count said in a slightly hurt tone of voice.

"Because you're a vampire and you want to drink my blood! And then I'll be a vampire and it'll be really 'orrible! I won't be able to play in the morning sunshine in Knothole, The Great Forest or in the Green Hill Zone! And I won't be able to find or speak my parents in such a form! And then my friends, everyone from Sally, Rotor and Sonic, and then some, will tease and call me names because I'll be so pale and weedy and useless!" The fox was close to tears. His best friend was lost, this 'Antoine' clone was freakin' him out [he was speaking in German and not French for pete's sake], and he just felt very alone.

"Oh, look, just because I am killing people and drinking zeir blood doesn't make me a bad person," the Count said gently. "I'm qvite sensitive, you know."

"Sensitive?" Tails was staggered. This guy was so _unlike_ Antoine, it was unnerving.

"Oh yah, I am reading poetry," the Count said, looking a tad defensive. Then he brightened up and pulled a small, leather-bound book from his jacket pocket. "Vould you like me to read you some?"

"Not just now, but thank you all the same," Tails said, regaining some composure. At last, the fact that he had some chance of escapee from this deranged vampire-coyote had occurred to him, and he just wanted to get away. But even though Antoine's form was kinda lanky and not at all large, he was a vampire so his reach must be great, especially if unlike Antoine, he'd mastered his sword…

"But, umm, I notice that you look rather different now. Not so, well, aggressive." _Not so barking mad [despite the ridiculous glasses] anyway_. Though he didn't utter this thought as Tails was polite, being a well brought-up fox.

"Ah, appearances are zo superficial. Master Tails, ve vampires haff very complicated personalities," the Count replied.

"You do?"

"Indeed, just like any mobian or human. Sometimes ve are ravening beasts, desperate for ze taste of blood!" The Count's eyes flashed red and he seemed to grow over a metre in height as he stood over the cowering fox, his cloak tails outstretched, with the cloak itself covering the whole length of the passageway.

"Eek! Yikes!"

"But zat is being only part of ze time," the Count said as he settled back down into his smaller size. Now he looked almost kindly. "At ozer times, ve lament our sad fate, and zen ve are getting very miserable."

"You are?"

"Yah. And sensitive."

"Zat too? Err, I mean, that too?"

"Look, I told you zat I read poetry, haven't I? Sometimes I even write it myself, in my diaries."

"Oh, bogus! No, I mean, that's really deep. I wish I could write poetry." Tails shouldn't have told lies. He knew it only always got him into trouble.

"Vell, perhaps you could. I shall read you some of my poetry and zen you may learn and be inspired by somezing."

Tails realized all too late that he had really got himself into deep, deep trouble this time, but there was no escaping his awful fate. Wearily, he trudged and followed the Count back to the feast hall, with only the prospect of an hour of listening to bad vampire poetry stretching out ahead of him. What a bummer!

* * *

If Eggor had had a flabber, it would have been gasted. He had simply no idea how grand his master's scheme was. Now that'd seen the monster for the final scene, he was more determined than ever to make sure he looked terrific in it. But he still wanted to do some directing, and he needed to find that wretched hedgehog. Frantically, he found the input he was looking for. The indicator blinked a pleasing red on the scanners. There were some other things with the hedgehog, but Eggor wasn't too worried about them.

_Yes! And they're so close to my film crew as well_, the metallic-encased Snively thought. This is a perfect chance to shoot that spare footage.

He began to type in a string of commands at his keyboard and sat back to admire his work, a thin robot grin playing on his metal face. _Master Robotnik will be so pleased with me…_

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

A/N:

Sorry for the REALLY LONG delay in uploading this, but University wanted me back for 11 weeks to get the 3 passes I was lacking for my degree. It took up all my time, but it's all done now and I'll get my results back in January!

The remaining chapters should definitely be more forthcoming, as I still intend to finish this story before going back to my other Sonic one [at least].

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

Oh and , sort your Edit/Preview problems out! Seriously...

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	11. The Rat Pack Movie

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 11: The Rat Pack Movie **

**Sewer Depths / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 05: 45 AM**

_Meanwhile in the dark, sewer depths of Castle Robotnik…_

"I said I want a good action movie. What's this bogus nonsense about a multi-genre cinematic experience, you snivelling little weirdo?" Capone growled. He didn't understand what Sonic was saying, and that made him feel anxious. He was worried that some other rat might be smarter than he was and be able to figure out what Sonic was saying. That would make him look dumb. And Capone liked looking dumb about as much as he liked someone treading on his sleek pink tail. In other words, Not At All.

"It's a term that we hip jive film-types use," Sonic said airily. He hated speaking like that, but that was how most of Mobius' film and television people sounded to him so he tried to imitate them as best as possible. It meant disconnecting his brain and talking gibberish, but he felt like he could get used to it. Maybe.

Oddly enough Capone's girl, _Chloe_, seemed to have perked up and looked about the only one who fully understood what the blue superdude was on about.

"You mean, like journalists?" Capone sneered.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Sonic said certainly.

"We had a visit from a journalist once," Capone said quietly. Sonic didn't realise what he was letting himself in for.

"Oh really? I guess that was kinda fab-groovy, although not as good as the hip-dude movie guys we're going to share space with," he managed to say. _Man I really do hate talking like this…_

"Yeah," Capone drawled slowly. "He was gonna write somethin', about us, wasn't he guys? Somethin' about rodents from disadvantaged backgrounds?"

There were growls and sniggers from the rat pack. "Yeah. Affirmative action for rats or somefink," one rat growled. "But he didn't bring us any pizza, though." That had clearly rattled the rats a lot as they all growled at the recounted memory.

"Well," Capone snarled as he grabbed Sonic by the throat, "he was a pretentious little dweeb who talked as though he'd swallowed a dictionary-"

"Err, yes, well, the film people we'll meet, they're not like that at all, Your Maj. Oh no," Sonic groaned. If only the rats would untie him! With his paws tied tightly behind his back, and his legs bound so that he could only take tiny steps forward, there wasn't much he could do to escape.

"Well, that's good," Capone jeered. "Like I say, we want an action movie, right? Like that scene you had in the boiler room back up there. Lotsa explosions and things going bang, right?"

That rat pack cheered.

"And I get to look especially cool with Chloe here, right?"

The rat pack cheered again, but a little less convincingly this time.

"With REAL BIG GUNS, right?"

The rat pack cheered like someone had just given them their own weight in deep-pan pizzas.

"Weeeellll," Sonic slowly said, "there are no big guns as such, Majestic dude. But there's something better than that-"

"You mean military weapons? Hey guys, we're gonna be driving tanks! Woweee!" Capone gloated, much alike a typical, little teen boy would be in this same situation.

"Err, not quite. But almost as good," Sonic said hurriedly.

Drawing himself up to his full height, he pronounced as loftily as he could, "The Ebon Staff of Peaminster the Magnificent!"

Capone grabbed him by the throat again, much rougher and harder this time. Sonic was getting very tired of this now, his tiny neck especially. Capone's breath smelt like he'd never cleaned his teeth, _ever_, which was actually exactly how often he cleaned them [poor _Chloe…_]. His tongue was furry with that kind of fur that grows on face flannels left for months in the corner of a grungy bathroom. It rated a set of straight tens on the grossometer.

"What is this Peaminster garbage?" you make me look dumb in front of my boys and girl and you're one ex-hedgehog," the rat hissed into Sonic's ear. Just to make his point clear, he snapped his grody yellow-green teeth about a millimetre from Sonic's left ear. Wincing a little the hedgehog played his trump card.

"It's the best flamethrower on Mobius, Your Maj," he said.

Capone's beady eyes gleamed with pleasure. "Well, why didn't ya say so before? Youse guys, you hear that? Flamethrowers!"

The rat pack [and Capone] cheered with a wild fury.

* * *

**The Upper Depths / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 00 AM**

The assistant to the assistant director was confused. Hurriedly, he began issuing orders to the camera-toting robots around it. They were modified Cluckers, without guns, but with swivelling cameras mounted around their turrets. Except for the First Camerabot, that is; that was a whizzing Nebula with camera lenses everywhere, used for special angle shots. With its zoom lenses shooting in and out of focus everywhere it looked very peculiar indeed.

"Umm, luvvies," the assistant said hopefully, clasping its hands together. The 'humans' turned around to look at the robot expectantly, breaking off their muttering about piece rates, and gala openings and first nights. Sir Norbert stopped bobbing his ginger hair.

"Big scene coming up, luvs! Apparently the producer has changed his mind again," the robot said.

"Oh, those media moguls, they're so fickle," moaned Drizzle, wringing his hoofed hands. "And I haven't even been to Make-Up yet."

"It's the big scene against the wererats!" the robot exclaimed.

"Wererats?" Thug said blankly. That word wasn't in his vocabulary. Actually, pretty much any old word wasn't in his vocabulary, but he at least knew how to repeat a word when he heard even if he couldn't remember it.

"Yeah," the assistant said, scanning the print out which had just arrived from the Central Studio. "Dozens of 'em. They're holding a hedgehog prisoner. You have to defeat them while making sure the hedgehog doesn't get wasted."

"Do I get to use the Ebon Staff of-" the wizard clad donkey, Drizzle began.

"As much as you want, but keep it away from the hedgehog…" the robot interrupted him.

"Oh, and I think the petrol is running low," Drizzle muttered. "Can I get a top-up?"

"No time, luvvie!" the robot yelled. "We're going for a take! Camera! Lights! Action!"

The room was darkened via the lighting crew, the old, small and overhanging light shades providing basic, if poor light. It tinted the area a slight sickly green, which made the next scene all the more frightening as the rats stormed into the passageway.

With a great snarling war cry, they hurtled toward the human wannabes. Some carried long, heavy pins in their trembling paws. Most of them had ropes for tying up people. Two of them had violin cases, but violins are terrifically useful weapons when it comes right down to the nitty-gritty. One of them had a tactical nuclear weapon, or at least he thought he did, because he suffered from delusions of grandeur and didn't realise it was actually a wooden lollipop stick. His attempt to launch it naturally wasn't terribly successful.

Drizzle pointed his staff down the passageway, intending to turn the rats into small smoking lumps of carbon. Unfortunately, when he pressed the concealed button a couple drops of petrol dripped from the end of it and nothing happened. The furious actor turned the staff around to inspect the far end of it and a tiny puff of flame shot up, setting his hair [and wizard hood] on fire.

The mayhem didn't last too long. The actress smothered Drizzle's head in a blanket before he could come to any serious harm, and the end of his hood just fell off. And Sir Norbert was swiftly overwhelmed by gleeful rats who had him tied up within seconds. Capone took one last at Thug and played a master stroke.

"Okay, dude, what's the square root of seven then?" It was something that Capone had never got at rat school, and he sure knew a kindred spirit when he saw one. Thug's brain cells grappled with the problem for some time and then gave up on the effort. The huge brute's face contorted with mental strain, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell with a loud thud to the floor.

Capone pounced on Thug's chest and yelled to the cowering Chloe to come over. Standing proudly, arms akimbo, he demanded attention.

"Hey, you!" he yelled to the directing robot. "Get those cameras on me, you get me? Chloe, just kinda fall at my heroic feet and look adoring, babe."

"Help! Help! I have been bitten by an horrendous wererat!" Sir Norbert moaned. "Foul lycanthropy! I shall have to seek atonement and a healer forthwith, 'ere I be transformed?"

"What's that chinless dweeb wailing on about?" Capone snarled, "Hey, you metal man! Put a sock in it. Your noise is ruining my big speech."

Sonic looked at the madhouse of struggling Mobian-Humans, preening rats and the film crew, and decided it was high time to get the heck out of there. He'd managed to slip the knot tying his paws behind his back in all the confusion, and had shuffled off into a lone, dark corner to free himself. In a few seconds, he was able to turn tail and speed off along the passageways below Castle Robotnik, looking for another way back inside.

* * *

"Now, isn't zat just a vonderful use of metaphor?" Count 'Antoine' beamed at Tails.

The fox in question was having a hard time of it. Poetry bored him rigid and the vampire seemed to have droned on and on about it for hours.

"Oh, erm, yeah, like, awesome," Tails groaned. Feigning enthusiasm was beyond him by now. He was stiff from sitting in his armchair, so he got up to stretch his legs (and tails). His bleary eyes told him that it was getting awfully late. Walking to the window of the lounge, he pulled open the maroon curtains.

The terrible storm outside had abated and watery sunshine streamed into the room. It was just after dawn. The Count shrieked and pulled his cloak over his eyes.

"Ach! Sunshine! Deadly!" he cried in alarm.

_Now that's the Antoine we all know and love [I guess]_, Tails thought.

"I like the sunshine. It's warm and nice and healthy," the fox replied, somewhat cheered up by the view outside.

"No, it isn't," the vampire snarled. "Sunshine is giving people horrible diseases. Malignant melanoma for a start, and zat's just for normal people."

"Erm, err," Tails stuttered. He hadn't a clue what old Fang Features was on about.

"And it's lethal to vampire's!" the Count hissed, backing away to the door. "Close zose curtains at vonce!"

Tails realised at once that he could extricate himself from the Count's clutches. He needed a well-argued reason not to close the curtains, because he didn't want to _really_ anger the Count. He might meet him again, after all.

The trouble is, "Shan't!" was the best he could come up with in the time allowed. The Count glared at him with hate-filled bloodshot eyes and fled down the corridor to his daytime resting place, screaming that the fox hadn't seen ze last of him yet.

Tail was free of him, but he was also alone again and he didn't know where Sonic was. His hedgehoggy pal had been gone an awfully long time now.

* * *

Tails knew that he ought to check the kitchens to find out if he could use the same elevator that had taken Sonic into the castle dungeons, but he was also curious. The Count had brought a huge heap of poetry books from what was plainly a library situated next door to the lounge, so the fox sneaked in to have a look around.

It looked like a typical murder mystery-que library, with its expensive diamond chandler overlooking the room, it's many rectangular bookcases stacked up in domino like lines, which were spread across three floors, and then of course there was a small sole lamp at the reading tables in the room's centre. It was there that Tails started his investigation.

Tails [carefully] sniffed under the large desks in the room, and checked out the fireplace, but there didn't appear to be anything unusual. Getting up again, he heard the tall tale whir of a camera swivelling above his head. Leaping backwards, he hit one of the bookcases next to a wall, and as he did it pivoted around to reveal a secret castle passage behind it.

Before he could react, the fox was plunged into darkness as the bookcase swiftly swivelled into him, closing the way back to the library indefinitely. As he tried to budge and force it open, Robotnik's mad laughter echoed all around.

"Spielbot, activate the camera units in the Black Tower," Robotnik snarled. "We are about to dispose of an unnecessary film eggstra!"

Tails whimpered and slowly padded forward into the unknown blackness.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

Did anyone get the other STC cameo I put in yet? :-p ;-)

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	12. Into The Black Tower!

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 12: Into The Black Tower! **

**Underground / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 15 AM**

Sonic was in unfamiliar territory. The dismal, smelly passages below the castle really did seem to go on forever. He didn't know where he was, and he had no way of getting his bearings. Even if he knew how to operate a compass, he doubted it'd work down here somehow. Comforting himself with some soggy crisps he found in the corner of one of his pockets, he plodded along, hoping that Tails was at least safe somewhere. At least Robotnik didn't seem to have any of his camera's filming him as he walked along – or at least he didn't see any. Then he heard the padding of paws heading towards him, and coupled with the flickering torches and the scarce light, it prompted a few tense moments for the blue hog.

"Hey sugah, is this the set for the Castle Robotnik movie," came a familiar-sounding voice.

"Bunnie?" the hedgehog said uncertainly. even It really did sound just like the southern belle.

"Erm, nay... Call me Jasebelle," the rabbit said as it turned the corner ahead of Sonic and loomed into view. Sonic didn't like the look of her [this time] at all. She was wearing something which looked like the kind of face-mask ice hockey players wear to stop their teeth being smashed in and she had something in a large leather bag she was carrying. Other than that, she just looked like a scruffier version of the Bunnie he knew.

Sonic wasn't sure whether her maddening appearance or the fact that he knew he'd fried this hideous, warped creation of his friend to a crisp just a few hours back unnerved him more.

_Just what the hell were these things?_

"I have a really good part in this movie," the rabbit sound rather unpleasantly. Sonic realised that if Tail's theory about the castle and its denizens was right [and though he hated to admit it, he usually did end up being right!], this thing was going to be yet another monster. Probably a duplicate of the one he'd deep fried not too long ago. And having narrowly escaped some impromptu spine-trimming at the hands of the walrus butler, he just wanted to get away, kick some Robotnik ass and rescue the others before the worse happened. But the rabbit dominatrix blocked the way ahead and Sonic certainly didn't want to go back to the madness of the film crew and rats behind him.

"Well, that's truly bodacious," the hedgehog lied, somewhat alarmed by the manner in which the rabbit was pulling something out of that large bag of hers. It was though she was tugging at something that was alive and vicious by the way she carefully tugged at it, and cursing to herself every so often. Whatever was in there, Sonic didn't wanna see it so he decided to try and confuse her. "But, like, do you have a good agent, miss?"

The rabbit looked pleasantly confused for a moment and stopped what she was doing. "What do you mean?" it enquired, a hint of curiosity in her seductive toned voice.

"Well, let's put it this way. This Robotnik dude, he doesn't pay the kind of fees top actors should get. A really good agent could make sure you get oodles of megabucks!" He hoped this would confuse the female long enough to make a break for it. It didn't work.

"I'm not getting paid," the rabbit snarled, stroking her right hand through her long, grubby hair, before pulling at whatever was in that bag again. Sonic thought he heard a whirring noise, which then stalled as quickly as it'd started.

"That's outrageous! Let me, like, act as your agent and I can make sure you get paid serious carrots," the hedgehog said hurriedly.

The rabbit paused, closing her eyes, revealing a subtle smile on her luscious lips. After opening them again she spoke in a plain, matter of fact-like voice.

"I'm not doing it for the money. Or the carrots. I don't eat carrots anyway."

"Really?"

"Yah. I'm doing it for the artistic integrity and the creative product values," the rabbit lied. "But most of all I'm doing it because I'm a total homicidal maniac – and because of _this_!"

The whirring thing inside the bag, pulled into life by the rabbit's paws, shredded it into pieces. Holding the red splattered chainsaw aloft, the mad-eyed rabbit lunged at Sonic. Or rather where Sonic had just been.

Sonic wasn't going to stay and fight Jasebelle. He knew he could defeat her, but the really awful thought was that those whirring saw-teeth might just shear his spines off and that would be too heinous to even think about. Leaping over the chainsaw as the rabbit brought it down towards him; he shot off into the unknown.

* * *

Before long, the torches had disappeared from the walls and there was no light. Sonic was running in pitch darkness. The whir of the chainsaw buzzed angrily, getting louder and louder behind him. He couldn't see anything of where he was going, which really explains why he suddenly ran full pelt into something soft which crumpled when he hit it. The hedgehog went flying head over heels and the relentless whir-whir-whir got horribly, inevitably closer.

"Yikes, my head!" snivelled whatever it was that Sonic had collided with. By a stroke of genius, Sonic realised he'd bumped into Tails.

Tails! Buddy! Are you all right, little dude?" The hedgehog asked nervously. Jasebelle and her chainsaw were getting _very_ close now. "Look, I'd like to say that I'm most radically sorry but unless you want to be fox steaks, we have to keep running. There's a deranged Bunnie rip-off with a chainsaw after me!"

Tails could hear the noise and he needed no second invitation to zip along on the heels of the fleeing hedgehog. By some miracle, they managed not to fall over in the darkness, and everything seemed to be going all right until Sonic ran straight into a door, almost knocking himself out. The chainsaw, once getting fainter behind them, was starting to become louder again.

"Why doesn't it just fall over and turn itself into bunny chunks?" Sonic groaned, sure he was seeing little gold rings spinning around his head. Feeling around with his paws, he realised he was in a dead end. With a homicidal, chainsaw-armed bunny rabbit closing in for the kill, things were not looking good at all.

Jasebelle was virtually on top of them when Sonic crouched low, leapt over her, and luckily managed to give her a good old spin kick [in reality he'd just been kicking out randomly]. The rabbit snarled in pain as she flew forwards, the chainsaw roaring in protest as it hit the wooden door. Within no time the whirring metal teeth of the saw carved a large hole in it and the rabbit fell on through. There was a long, long scream and the sound of a demented killer rabbit hitting something very hard a long, long way down, and finally a rather graphic-inducing sound from the chainsaw which heavily suggested that this rabbit had scoffed her last carrot [or whatever it actually ate, I guess].

Sonic peered through the hole in the doorway, he and Tails both realising near around the same time that it was an elevator shift, though sadly there didn't look to be one available. A faint, pale light came from inside, but a cloud of dust was still settling. A very deep pit lay just inside the door, but further across they could both make out a set of stone steps leading to another door just a bit above their current horizon. He knew that he and Tails could make it across easily. They had to, as there wasn't any other place to go.

* * *

**Unknown Lab / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 25 AM**

"They're in the Black Tower then," Eggor said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Spielbot had his visual sensors stuffed into a very large book, an didn't say anything. Eggor was itching to know what was in the book, but he didn't want Spielbot to think he was that keenly interested. But Snively being Snively, his curiosity got the better of him in the end.

"So what's that then?" he asked laconically.

"What's what?" Spielbot replied innocently.

"That book," Eggor replied testily. "What is in it? Why is it so fascinating?"

"Well, it gave me the idea for part of the Master's design for the Grey Tower. The monster in the basement."

"Oh, yes, that," Eggor said dismissively. Actually, he couldn't remember what the monster was offhand.

"It's an old script for a movie which unfortunately never got finished. One of mine actually," Spielbot continued. "It was a film about huge prehistoric pigs on the loose in a theme park. Unfortunately, we couldn't get enough wood to build the actors."

"Oh really?" Eggor said dubiously. Then he caught sight of the book's title: _Jurassic Pork_.

Good lord, no wonder it never happened with something as shi–

At that moment Robotnik wobbled into the laboratory, looking very much in a bad mood compared to hours before, which Eggor put down to the fact that Sonic and Tails had been lost in his castle for hours undetected now, looking for their stolen comrades…

This foul mood of the eggy-loving scientist was also down to a slight head cold that had developed during the night and those always made him more short-tempered than usual. And having lost his sense of taste, he'd put too much tabasco in his fatty assorted breakfast and his tongue was burning too.

"Well, Eggor. Have you found the little pests? Things had better be going especially well," the madman snarled. "I feel like melting some robots down for scrap today."

"They are just entering the Black Tower," Eggor said hurriedly. "They've crossed the pit and are now trying to figure out how to bypass the next door."

"Well, then, open it by remote control! Let us – ha ha! – let us see how they deal with the traps in there," Robotnik gloated. He was feeling better already.

* * *

**The Black Tower / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 25 AM**

Tails and Sonic couldn't figure out the weird chamber they'd gotten into at all. All over the dusty yellow walls, and on the door before them, were very odd and stylised paintings and symbols. They showed various heavily suntanned animals standing around giant stone pyramids, apparently dancing in very weird zigzag postures.

One such depiction Sonic noted was of a group of five familiar animals being whipped and beaten before the might of the Pharaoh's henchman, namely a lion, goat and snake. It send a shudder down his spine seeing depicts of him and his other FF comrades in such a way, he was thus very glad that Tails didn't appear to have noticed it, for the mental scar it'd induce didn't bear thinking about. It confirmed something in the hedgehog's mind however; Robotnik was pure evil, the very worse of humanity in mortal form.

One thing that was noticed by both parties was that the females seemed to be dressed in very little but wearing their own weight in black and purple mascara, if the shadows around their eyes were anything to by. It all looked very strange, and barbaric.

"Oh look! There's a little doorbell here," Tails said brightly. "There's something written here beside it as well. I can't quite… Oh yes: _Toot 'n' come in_. Gosh, isn't that friendly?" His tails wagged ever so slightly, for he was easily pleased sometimes.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sonic snapped. "This is somewhere below Castle Robotnik and you think we're gonna be given a gala welcome?" Then he was sorry, for Tails' tails drooped and he looked very miserable all of a sudden, and anything which lightened their spirits would have been welcome, no matter how silly. They were tired now, having been kept awake all night by homicidal maniacs and poetry readers.

"Anyway, I'm not ringing any doorbell," Sonic growled. "You never know when some sort of massive electrical shock is going to go right up one's spines." So saying, he took a flying spinning leap and smashed that door down.

The room beyond was completely bare, except for a pair of very odd-looking metal statues, just about double the duo's height. They had the heads of jackals, not one of Sonic's favourite animals, and the bodies of crocodiles, another of Sonic's unfavoured animals, but they were standing upright. Sonic didn't like the look of them at all, but if he and Tails were going to get to the door opposite them, they were going to have to walk right between them.

"What are they?" Tails whispered.

"Search me, dude, Jackodiles, I guess," Sonic said tartly.

"I've never heard of those," Tails replied, sounding highly dubious.

"Well, then, maybe they're Crockals. I don't know. Who cares? More of Robotnik's creations so I think we should-" He turned to whisper in Tail's ears just as Eggor flipped the activation switch and the statues lumbered into life.

"-make haste, little buddy!" Sonic shouted, expecting this to happen sooner or later, and thus he and Tails were raring to go.

They leapt into the fray, stomping the robots with ease. Sonic's Super Spin was more than enough for one of them, which fall apart rather lamely, and Tails ducked, dodged and finally stomped the other.

"Ha! Child's play! You hear that, you egg lunatic?" Sonic yelled, hoping Robotnik could hear what he was saying. Unfortunately, Eggor had programmed a malfunction into the sound relay circuits. He didn't want Robotnik to go berserk and have him melted down for scrap and ending his encased mortal existence, and so as a result Robotnik never heard a word.

Sonic charged for the next oak door, smashing it into flying strips of wood, before racing down the stone steps beyond. And followed by Tails, he ran straight into Robotnik's next dastardly trap. Above him, he heard a swishing sound and he looked up just in time to see doors swing open in the ceiling and a huge stone ball drop into the stairway. It made a deafening noise as it crunched onto the stone steps, and then began to roll towards them, slowly at first but then definitely gathering speed.

"Yikes! We're going to be squashed!" Tails yelped. As the stone ball got closer, they could see just how huge it was. It virtually pilled the stairway, so there was no chance of jumping over it. There wasn't any side passages along the stairs either so simply stepping to the side, unlike most people tend to do in such situations, wasn't gonna be possible either. There was only one thing they could do: the friends took to their heels and ran like crazy!

"Uh-oh, look out! Time for a pit stop!" yelled Sonic as they came to a screeching halt before another great hole in the ground. It was far too wide even for them to jump across, and they couldn't even see the bottom of it, which considering the earthly looking walls, didn't come as much a surprise to the duo. Safety was an unbridgeable gap away on the other side, why all the while Robotnik's gloating laughter mocked them from unseen speakers.

"Now – ha ha ha! – now we will play my favourite game!" he sneered. "It's not football or racing. It's… _Squash!_"

"We're doomed! Doomed, I tell you!" Tails panicked as the ball rolled rumbled ever closer.

* * *

"Not yet," Sonic growled. He whipped out a length of rope he had secreted about his person. "Those rats tied me up awfully well; I didn't expect to have to thank them for it." He made a noose out of the end of the rope and whirled it across the chasm. It caught something at the other end, and when he tugged it, it held safely.

"Get across, buddy," the hedgehog ordered. "I'll hold this end so you can get on over."

"But what about you? How will you get over?" Tails asked anxiously.

"Dude, this is no time to worry over details. When you get across, just hold your end very tight," Sonic gasped. There was no time to waste so without further ado, Tails gripped the rope with all four paws and scrabbled across the pit to the safety of the other side.

He saw Sonic take the other end of the rope and launch himself just as the stone ball rolled over and down. Oddly enough, there wasn't the tremendous crash Tails had been expecting as the ball hit the bottom of the pit, which he thought must mean that it probably went all the way through to the other side of Mobius. He had a sudden image of a small fox, just like him but wearing a hat decorated with corks and holding a bent stick, peering down a huge hole just like this one, only to be very surprised by a blooming oversized marble which shot up out of the ground at him.

Shaking such a stupid idea out of his head, Tails anchored the rope to safely to the door handle around which Sonic had managed to loop the noose when he threw it. Slowly, he advanced to the edge of the pit to see what had become of his friend. When he got to the very edge, he could see the rope had frayed into a few very thin strands against the ragged rock. If he tugged on it to try and bring Sonic up, the rope would snap. Peering down, he could see only dust and darkness.

"Sonic? Sonic? Where are you?" he called out timidly, a rising edge of panic laced in his voice.

He didn't get a reply.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

For simple illustrations and some information (which I prepared earlier), click on this link:

**Psycho Bunnie - ****.com/art/Psycho-Bunnie-27331641**

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	13. I Want My Mummy!

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 13: I Want My Mummy! **

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 35 AM**

Sonic found himself dangling precariously on the rope. Holding on tightly with his paws, and even with the scarce light, he could feel that there must be something wrong. It felt too frail and he didn't dare try and swing on it. There must've been some good reason why Tails hadn't tugged and begun dragging him up after all.

But if he could have swung against the side of the pit, he would have been able to gain some momentum going for an upward spin, but as if was he was just hanging about. He looked down and saw a pit, oddly illuminated by a dozen small spheres of light dug into the soft earth, a pit that was filled with hissing snakes just a few metres below him. Sonic gulped.

"Greetingsss, Missster Jonesss," hissed a green snake with yellow eyes and very odd, triangular shaped head.

"Mister Jones?" the hedgehog repeated, somewhat taken aback.

"Oh, all right then," the snake said rather irritably, "Doctor Jonesss, if you mussst. We don't ussually ssstand on ssceremony in these action ssscenesss you know."

"Jones? Who were expecting? My name's Sonic, you silly serpent," Sonic muttered. This was just too much. This wretched reptile didn't even recognise a world-famous hedgehog when he saw one, and there was only one to see, after all.

"You're not Doctor Jonesss?" the snake said suspiciously, rearing up and swaying from side to side. It's forked tongue flicked in and out of its narrow mouth, and its beady gaze never left Sonic for an instant.

"No, I'm not. I'm a hedgehog, for heaven's sake," Sonic snapped in an exasperated voice.

"Hmmmm. Ssso you are. Well, I sssupossse you are what you sssay you are," the snake said disappointedly. "Never ssseen one before, you sssee. The name's Basil, by the way."

"Sonic, the world-famous blue hedgehog and all-round good superhero; pleased to meet you I'm sure. Now, umm…" Sonic was about to ask how he could get out of here when something else occurred to him. "Where did that stone ball go?"

"Oh, that," the snake replied rather airily with a loud snakey sniff, "I expect that Ssspecial Effectsss dealt with that. Happensss all the time, you know."

"Oh, really? Well, umm, is there any way out of this pit? I've fallen and I can't get back up," Sonic grumbled.

"No, there'sss no way out apart from the sssecret door behind the huge ssstatue of Pharoah Goateses over there in the corner," Basil the snake indicated with a flick of his head. "So you're trapped, matey."

"But there's a secret door, so there is a way out," Sonic contradicted confidently. The snake looked startled by that.

"Yesss, but you don't know that," he snapped. "It is a _secret door_, right?"

"Oh yes I do. You just told me."

The snake sighed. His silly hissing accent appeared to vanish. "This isn't going to be easy, is it, Jones – umm, I mean, Sonic. Ha! Oh wait, I know, I'll hypnotise you!" He swayed his head from side to side and stared at the hedgehog dangling on the rope. Sonic thought he'd been crazy before, but now he knew it, and he told him so.

"It doesn't work? Are you sure?" the snake said incredulously after a few more moments.

"Nope," Sonic said flatly.

"Hmmmm. My swaying hypnotic dance is definitely supposed to work," the snake said, clearly miffed by this turn of events. "I learned it from the mongoose that offed my dear old granny. I _am_ going to hypnotise you, blast it," the snake said finally and took a conveniently placed, golden pocket watch from the floor. Holding it in his jaws, he swung it to and fro.

"Look at the watch and listen to my voice. Your eyes are getting heavy… Your eyes are getting very, very heavy…" His voice sounded very strange through his clenched jaws.

"Of course they are," Sonic explained cheerily. "But what do you expect? I haven't slept all night. I've been chased by deranged animals with chainsaws!"

"You are feeling sleepy!" the snake roared.

"I just told you that!"

The snake dropped the watch. "Oh, I give up," he exclaimed. "Go on then, you rotten spoilsport. Third statue on the right. Watch out, because it'll make an awful mess when you smash it down."

"What about all those snakes, though? I mean, are they poisonous?" Sonic asked fretfully.

"Nah, they're not even real snakes," Basil sniffed. "Just wriggling rubbery tubes. They're real tacky."

* * *

The faint call of a worried fox could be heard far in the distance, interrupting their enlightening conversation.

"It's okay, dude. Float on down!" Sonic yelled. "I wouldn't, like, object too much if you picked me up on the way."

The twin-tail-powered fox spiralled slowly down into the pit. Seeing the writhing snakes, he hovered worriedly above Sonic.

"Yikes! Are you sure about this?" he fretted.

"Radically safe, dude. They're all made of rubber," Sonic sniffed. "Just look at 'em. Bogus or what?"

"Hello. Have you ever been hypnotised?" Basil enquired of Tails, getting his watch out hopefully.

"Don't try that with me," Tails said airily. "My grandma was trained by the Hypnotising Mongeese of the Emerald Hill Zone!" Basil shrank back hastily while Tails shot Sonic a crafty wink.

Right then the rope holding Sonic snapped, but Tails just managed to grab him as he plummeted downwards. Rather awkwardly, they managed to spiral down into a heap amongst the wriggling rubber snakes.

"Yuk, gross," Tails sniffed. "I hate rubber snakes. And those 'orrible spiders made out of felt."

"Yeah, know what you mean," Sonic said absent mindly. He was busy sizing up the statue of Goateses the Pharaoh, figuring out the best place to take a flying leap at it.

"And Rotor's luminous rubber chicken too."

"Yeah, that too," Sonic sniffed. He wasn't listening at all now. He'd seen the join between the head and the body of the statue.

"And, you know what, what I really hate is that 'orrid green slimy slime stuff they sell in pots. Someone… put a cup full of it in my bed once… I didn't see it because I was so tired, and it got all in my fur. It was disgusting," Tails said loudly with the air of someone who is very suspicious of the person he's talking to. Sonic turned rather angrily to his friend.

"Chill out, dude!" That's not important right now. Look," and he pointed to the statue. "He says there's a secret door behind the statue," pointing at Basil.

* * *

"Yeah, that's right mate," the snake said, swaying a little in the hope of hypnotising Tails just a little bit. He looked even more disappointed when Tails gave him a look which plainly indicated that the fox thought he was one topping short of a full pizza.

"What's behind that, then?" Tails asked. Sonic looked a little sheepish, realising that he'd never regarded that simple question either.

"The burial chamber of the High Priestess of the Pharaoh Goateses," the snake said pompously.

"Look, you over-animated dipstick," Sonic said angrily. "This isn't a real pyramid. It's all bogus. This is Castle Robotnik. Now, what's really in there?"

"Well, I don't know…" the snake replied, rather irked. "That's what it said it was in the script. I mean, I've never been in there, have I? It's secret, how many times do I have to tell you? Cripes, there's no pleasing some people."

"Well, there's nothing else for it, I suppose we'll have to go in there," Tails decided and turned to look at Sonic to see what he thought.

There was an empty space where the hedgehog had been standing, and a tremendous bang as the statue of the Pharaoh crashed to the floor. As the dust settled, Tails could see a very narrow duct set into the wall behind where the statue's head should have been. Sonic was already scrabbling along it. Tails clambered up precariously up on the pile of rubble to follow him. It was very dark, very dusty and very smelly, and he didn't care for it at all.

* * *

_And minutes later, somewhere along the dark, Egyptian designed passageways that followed… _

"Phew! I'm exhausted," Tails groaned, wiping perspiration from his brow with his paws. A thin film of grime from the dust was all over him. "I haven't slept all night, and my eyes hurt."

"Yeah," Sonic groaned. Even after stuffing his face with most of the nuts and crisps Tails had left, fatigue was catching up with him too. He'd put in enough superfast running and Super Spins for one day and night, what with Ferdy and Jasebelle and all the rats, and his limbs felt very heavy indeed. Why, perhaps that crafty snake had hypnotised him after all!

"Look, a door. We're at the end of this endless passage at last," Tails said with new heart. "And hey! There's an inscription on it."

It was difficult to read the letters on the plaque, as there was virtually no light left at all. It was also difficult because the letters were written in weird hieroglyphics and, as such, were completely incomprehensible anyway.

"I wonder if those so called 'Roaming Romans' wrote this?" Tails pondered. "Did they build pyramids and stuff?"

"Dunno, dude. Sure doesn't sound like them though… History never was my strong point," Sonic confessed. "I tend to be better at – smashing things down!" And a few seconds later, he'd proven that by smashing down [yet another] door.

* * *

What they found on the other side of the door amazed them.

"Wow. This is mind-boggling. I mean, I know, it's bogus 'cos it's all made by Robotnik and everything, but it's still awesome!" Tails said shakily.

The burial chamber seemed to be totally filled with gold, like, everywhere. Fabulous statues of jackal-headed beasts and serving attendants to the High Priestess stood twice the size of Sonic and Tails. Huge gold urns and vases stood in serried ranks alongside a set of gold-inlaid marble steps leading up to the sarcophagus of the Priestess herself. It stood upright, with the image of the Priestess engraved in vivid cobalt blue, black, white and gold on its face.

"Hmmm. This could be a Roman urn," Sonic said, idly checking out the first thing he saw.

"What's a Roman urn?" Tails asked.

"About two-fifty a week, I think" Sonic sniggered, hardly able to believe his luck. Guess that was one of the functions of keeping a sidekick around: they always knew when to feed you a gag line. "Hmmm, I don't know about this. Doesn't this ancient female-type priestess dude look vaguely familiar to you?"

There was the faintest suggestion of a creak from somewhere in the room. They didn't notice it.

Nervously, Tails walked to the foot of the steps and looked at the sarcophagus a little more closely.

"Now that you mention it, there is something familiar about it. Can't quite place it, though," he puzzled.

The creak suggested itself more loudly. Sonic looked back down the duct, thinking that the rubble must still be settling from the shattered Pharaoh statue.

"Me, neither," the hedgehog sighed as he fastened his gaze on the tomb once again.

The creak decided to ignore suggestion and go for something abit more blatant.

"Did you hear something?" Tails said fretfully. Although everything was so rich in this strange place, his nerves were a bit frayed from his sleeplessness.

"I think it's that rubble back in the snake pit," Sonic said uneasily. "It's still settling, I suppose." _I hope_, was what he'd wanted to say but why unnerve themselves even more? It was just best to see how things unfolded, albeit by being more cautious than previous.

As if due to lack of response, the creak sped past blatant and went for overkill. It sounded like your granny's false teeth being prised apart by a champion wrestler and the resultant sound being whacked through a 6000-watt amplifier.

Tails almost jumped into Sonic's arms, as he had just realised something very important.

"Sonic, we're trapped in here! There's no way back out!"

* * *

The tomb began to open.

"Oh, crikey! The Curse of the Pharaoh's Tomb! Wail! We're doomed. I've seen it on video; everyone who enters a tomb like this one ends up with 'orrible things happening to them!" Tails yelled, not even bothering to disguise his frantic behaviour this time.

The tomb lid flew open and from its hollow interior, a very heavily bandaged squirrel-like creature lumbered out, it's groans little above a whisper.

"Come to mummy," the thing crooned in a distressingly Sally Acorn-like voice.

"Sally! Oh no!" Tails cried out. "That fiend Robotnik! He's killed her! He's killed our friend!" He shouted, obviously horrified and distressed, as the glistening moisture around his eyes showed only too well. The lack of sleep only served to heighten the duo's emotions [naturally].

"No." Sonic said after a moment or two, his eyes closed, but his stance strong and vigilant. "It just looks like her. Just like the Count appeared to be Antoine, his butler Rotor and the rest. It's not really her, it's the monster that Robotnik wants to turn her into," Sonic said as he edged away from the lumbering thing. The problem was that there wasn't really much room for edge-swaying to begin with.

The mummy looked too much like Sally for comfort. The thought that this was how Robotnik wanted the freedom fighting Princess to met her maker [and continue on thereafter], was just totally hideous. _As if the others weren't enough, you just had to mess with her too_, Sonic thought angrily. _But of course he would_, his inner mind spoke forth, _blood is most definitely thicker than water between them, both a constant thorn in each other's agenda. It's no wonder she'd be like this, dead and yet alive, a cursed existence, in his dreams._

_I can't allow him to finish off these experiments, else they will end up like this, everyone will. Me and Tails have to stop that madman, and quickly!_ Sonic concluded.

He and Tails, despite their strengthened resolve to take this fight to the very finish, still couldn't bring themselves to attack it. It just felt totally wrong. And so in a quick-fire move, Sonic began to knock over the vases and urns, blocking the mummy's approach. With outstretched arms, fragments of yellowing bandages hanging from them, the grisly-looking thing, with its gold and blue helm dress aglow, kept heading remorselessly for them.

"Watch out, Sonic! If they touch you, you get a 'orible wasting disease!" Tails yelled, ever trivia resourceful. "Ohh! I don't feel well; perhaps I've caught it already! What are we going to do? "

It was at that moment that the jackal-headed statues decided to become animated and lumber into life themselves. Robotic arms outstretched just like the mummy's then encircled Sonic and Tails.

They were trapped!

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

For simple illustrations and some information (which I prepared earlier), click on this link:

**Mummified Sally - .com/art/Mummified-Sally-28068587 **

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	14. Things That Go Bump In The Daytime

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 14: Things That Go Bump In The Daytime **

**Tomb of the Great Priestess 'Goateses' / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 58 AM**

The jackal-headed statues surprisingly reached the duo first, deciding to each go for one particular of them, whilst the Mummy got ever closer.

Sonic easily parried a sweeping claw motion from his enemy with a quick flurry of his legs; it's not as if statues that had to hop around like the oversized-looking chess pieces that they _weren't_ hard to anticipate. They only had two arms to attack with it seemed, after all. And a quick jab to the head by Tails soon sent the other one barmy in the head, and stumbling in distress in Sonic's direction.

Sonic sent Tails a crafty wink, who seeing his plan, then acted accordingly by staying at his side. The two robots dashed in their direction and in the last optimum second, the duo leaped into the air and allowed the two to meet. Needless to say, their attraction was quite explosive.

And this resulting explosion not only melted most of the gold stock in the room, but also had lit up the Mummified Sally's long auburn hair, who was none too pleased as a result.

She roared in fury and charged at them now; her eyes open for the first time, full of azure flame. Sonic knew that this time he had no choice but to take some form of offensive, least because the room around them was still melting and crumbling apart. If he and Tails remained here any longer than he feared the chamber would claim them as its latest victims.

"Tails, hang on to something, and hold it tight!" Sonic shouted, getting into a tense and combative stance.

"What are you gonna do, Sonic…?" Tails asked worriedly.

"Chill out, dude. I'm just gonna give mummy features here a cut and clean cut blow-dry!" He replied, a smirk on the edge of his lips.

With that, the cerulean blue superhero did a figure of eight spin on the spot in anticipation, eying all the remaining corners of the room before he speed off in a flash of blue. He spin dashed from each of the four corners of the decreasingly disappearing room, creating the momentum he needed, in the place that he needed, i.e. the centre of the room where 'Priestess Goateses' currently resided.

A howling wind, akin to a werewolf's cry at a silver moon, formulated in Tails' ears, and he inwardly urged himself to hang on with all his the strength he had left. Sonic had only created this technique recently but it was still unpredictable and dangerous, so foe and ally were liable to this 'Sonic Cyclone'.

Next to come in the centre of the room was the rippling funnel of air itself and with its entrance everything not tied down was scattered and bashed asunder.

Tails was almost hit with half the remains of a gold vase, but Sonic wasn't so luckily… as a flurry of gold coins rain down on him, pinning him to the ground. His groan of exhaustion wasn't heard above the still howling wind, for all that could be heard now was the wailing unnatural screams of the Mummy itself as it was flung around the room.

After a few more moments, it eventually slammed right into one of the still solid walls, knocking it senselessly right out cold.

Sonic was about to make a remark about how that'd leave one with a killer headache when something unexpected, but still not that bizarre [considering the eve's events], happened.

The wall of the western side of the chamber, which had minutes before been made of this gold-like material, had completely melted down in the inferno leftover by the jackal robots. But from it came some robots, more animated, smaller and more humanoid looking ones, who quickly scooped up the pair, now too tired to protest, away and into the darkness beyond the hole.

* * *

What they found beyond was a film crew who'd been eagerly awaiting their arrival.

"First call for makeup, luvvies," crooned a rather elegant-looking robot with coiffed metallic hair. Its model base looked rather like a Burrobot to the duo. "Good scene, good scene, my luvs. Loved that electric feeling! Exude, exude, that's what the director always said. I thought you were just super, darlings. That last special effect came out of nowhere, even for me!"

Sonic and Tails exchanged glances, and were going to explain what had _really_ occurred, but then thought better of it. It'd be a long, long night, and that didn't want to send the camp robot off on another tirade.

A hatch covered up the remaining hole, separating the duo and film crew from the angry mummy that was wailing and pounding her fists hard against it.

"Ohh, those actresses, they're so temperamental," the robot said disapprovingly. "Honestly, give them a bit part and they think they can throw tantrums like real stars. What a little madam."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other again in stunned amazement. The degree of bogusness had passed beyond the max and was now accelerating into the depths of the megabogus. After a night without sleep, they began to wonder if they weren't, after all, fast asleep and dreaming – or having a nightmare.

"Do you mind if I fluff up those spines a little?"said diminutive robot with a disarming appearance to one of Robotnik's Coconuts. "And perhaps a little bit of blusher? Bring out the colour of your cheeks. Oh, you do look pale, you know."

"Of course I do," Sonic said irritably, pushing away the face puff being shoved at him. "I've been awake all night, and I'm bushed."

"Ohh! You actors are all the same. All-night parties and dancing 'till dawn, eh, I shouldn't wonder. You should look after yourself better. Your body is a temple," the robot said bizarrely.

"Well," Tails said in a moment of inspiration, "the thing is, we need relaxation. Outside of the castle."

"Outside the castle?" the film crew said as one. They were clearly suspicious.

"Ah. No, not exactly outside the castle," Tails said hurriedly. "We have a scene to retake with the headless horseman. In the coach-house," he explained. "We could relax and get some fresh air. That would make us look and feel much better," he concluded hopefully.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" said the Burrobot-looking robot with the improbable metal coiffure. "Well, perhaps we could arrange that. But right now you're wanted at the Grey Tower, dears. The Director is quite adamant. And you know what happens when you keep old Bossy Britches waiting."

* * *

Sonic and Tails groaned. They were desperately tired and they needed to find somewhere safe to sleep, and Castle Robotnik certainly wasn't safe. If only they had noticed that the robot had mentioned a director. The other film crew had mentioned the producer. But, then, after a night without sleep hedgehog and foxes aren't at their most observant and what the heck, directors and producers are both dweebs anyway.

"We've been working more hours then we're supposed to, it's against the rules of the actor's union," Sonic pleaded. "We need our rest!"

I'm sorry, luvs," the Burrobot said with a steely edge to its voice, "but if we don't bring this movie on time we're scrap metal and you're just a pair of has-beens without any future in this Tinseltown city. So let's be professionals, shall we? Just the scenes in the Grey Tower to do and then you can have your quality time, luvvies. And remember: exude!"

"I wish I had the energy to stomp these totally annoying nerds," Sonic whispered to Tails. "I suppose we'll have to go along with them, though. The weird thing is, this doesn't feel like Robotnik is behind it. If he was, and he knew how exhausted we were, he'd send in a bunch of robots in to attack us and finish us off, not to do this."

Tails nodded. It puzzled him too. He pulled his paws out of his pockets, realising for the first time that he was still wearing his dinner jacket he'd put on to dine with the Count.

"I've got some entrées left," he said. "Just some nuts and nachos."

"Why didn't you say so before?" Sonic beamed. "Right on or what? Let's go and sort this bogus Grey Tower nonsense out, dude."

"Make-up first," the robot insisted. "Must look you best for the big scenes, you know."

Sonic took one look at the face puff and scowled.

* * *

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 07: 13 AM**

Robotnik was beside himself with rage. He jumped up and down and banged his fists on the consoles. He looked like a huge wobbly yo-yo in a white coat.

"Pah! That hateful hedgehog has escaped again! What are those robots doing? Where did they come from? Spielbot, is that your film crew?!" he eggploded.

"Certainly not!" Spielbot sniffed huffily. "My fine team of expert robot technicians are in the Grey Tower itself, just in case those animals survive long enough to get there."

Eggor kept quiet. His plan hadn't worked out too well. The Master was angry and this was bad news. Eggstraordinarily enough, Robotnik didn't ask him about the second film crew. Part of Eggor was relieved, but the Snively aspect of him was a tad annoyed too. He was supposed to be the Director, after all.

"Find them and have them melted down for scrap," the lunatic scientific genius ordered Eggor. "Twice."

Eggor really didn't understand what was going on. On the one hand, Robotnik wanted to make his movie, with its great cinematic scene atop the Great Tower, and that meant that Sonic and Tails had to survive long enough to get there. But when Sonic and Tails were trapped somewhere else in the castle, Robotnik seemed to want to destroy them if he had the chance. It didn't seem to make sense, unless…

The Master is confused himself, Eggor realised. He's not certain what he wants. Or perhaps it's just the eggscitement of the moment when the animals are backed into a corner which temporally overcomes him. But either way, he is not being entirely _logical_.

That troubled Eggor deeply. Obviously Robotnik was completely mad, but being illogical was something a scientist shouldn't really be. Deranged, yes, but illogical…

Eggor shivered.

* * *

**Underground Depths / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 07: 13 AM**

"Well, maybe just one more quick shine on my sneakers," said Sonic, relaxing in his chair. The shoe-buffing robot frantically rubbed harder with its cleaning cloth. "Don't have any pizza at all, dude?"

"Tut, tut," the coiffured robot said. "No time for meals, luvvie. Anyway, you'll probably bring it back up in the first scene and we can't have that. Look terrified, please, but definitely no pizza-pebbledashing of the walls. Catering will be along later to take your lunch order."

Tails proudly inspected his newly fluffed tails, using an especially shiny chrome robot as a mirror. He thought it looked really cool. Even his dinner jacket had been cleaned.

"Tell me more about this Grey Tower," Sonic asked. "Like, what are we expected to do, exactly?"

The robot in charge looked suspicious again. "What do you mean? Haven't you read the script? Are you sure you two are in this scene?" Other robots began to circle round the animals, looking threatening.

"Oh, right on, make-up dudes. It's just that even the biggest megastars can do with a quick refresher, right? What I meant was, umm…" Sonic tried to think himself out of trouble. Bad move.

"Yes?" the robot said, still a little uncertain.

"I meant, like, we need your expert guidance on the best scenes to, umm, exude in. give us your creative input," the hedgehog finished, using one of the gibberish phrases he'd picked up from videos about movie-makers. The robot seemed much more satisfied by that. It preened itself a little, and began to tell Sonic and Tails what to expect from the first two scenes. The friends shot each other worried looks when they found out.

As the robots guided them along the labyrinthine passage to the Grey Tower, Sonic whispered to his friend. "We could stomp them. I feel a bit better after this sit-down," the hedgehog growled softly.

"I don't. I'm still exhausted. And even if we do stomp them, we'd still be trapped. We don't know any way out of the castle. Maybe there's one in the Grey Tower, and we really need to find it if it is in there. We've got to find somewhere safe to get some food and sleep, and there isn't gonna be anywhere safe in here."

Sonic sighed. Tails was right and he knew it, because he was fatigued too. Thing was, he didn't like not being able to stomp these wretched robots into junk. He tapped the floor with his foot, irked, as a Coconut stopped at a wall panel beside a pair of metal doors and keyed in some entry codes. The doors swished open to reveal an elevator room beyond.

"Top floor, luvvies, and then straight through to the top," the robot leader said. "And don't forget–"

"Yes, I know," Sonic sighed. "Exude, exude." The moment the robot turned away, he looked at Tails and putting to two fingers to his mouth, made 'I want to puke' signs. He stepped into the elevator with Tails and pressed the top green button. Within seconds, they were atop the Grey Tower, and they stepped out into a bare grey-tinted room without any windows. There was still no way out that they could see.

* * *

**The Grey Tower / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 07: 34 AM**

"Okay, here goes, dude," Sonic said, breathing heavily. "Let's get this turkey on the road." He crossed the room and opened the decaying-looking brown door on the far side. As he'd been told, there was a long monorail spiralling crazily downwards to the bottom of the tower, and a single open carriage for riding down it. And because the monorail was built into a wide spiral around a central stone pillar, they couldn't see what lay below them, but they got into the carriage anyway.

"Going down," sneered an automated robotic voice. "Welcome to the helter-skelter. Heh heh!"

The carriage gave a lunge forward and then accelerated more smoothly. Soon it was hurtling down faster than a robot Sonic would be if it'd just been kicked off a rooftop.

"I'm getting dizzy," Tails whined. "My brain hurts. Awwuurgggh!" The carriage started rocking from side to side and they had to hold on with their paws. Tails was going a nasty shade of puce and his white-knuckled paws gripped the side of the carriage for dear life. Sonic wasn't too far behind him, recalling the 'pizza spewing' comment that coiffured robot had said earlier, and was slowly going a pale green. The helter-skelter suddenly hit the bottom of the descent and threw them out. Then it lurched forward again, through a high archway with the words 'GHOST TRAIN' painted in large, spooky, green and white letters above it.

"Bogus or what?" Sonic said after a moment or two of regaining his composure, in a mocking tone. "Ghost and ghoulies, huh? Let me at 'em!" The carriage shot forwards.

* * *

It was very, very dark inside the ghost-train tunnel. They could hear the sound of lapping water all around them, so it was plainly too big a risk to jump out of the carriage and look for a way out at random. Luminous painted skeletons and leering pumpkin faces flew at them from all sides, almost colliding with them.

"Yikes! It's getting kind of scary," Tails whimpered. He really didn't like this kind of thing at all. He'd rather of taken on Robotnik's Swatbot's or Badnik's than this.

"Huh! It's all fake," Sonic repeated as if trying to persuade himself too that was true. It wasn't nice down here at all and it was too dark to see anything, which really cheesed him off.

The carriage lumbered to a halt, tipped over sideways and dropped them out onto solid stone ground. The sound of water was a little way behind them now, and a dim light came from flickering candles set in brackets along the walls. It was very quiet here, and dirty cobwebs and dust lurked in all corners and crevices of the stone passageways. It was more than a little spooky.

"Let's get moving. And keep checking the walls. There may be something hidden, like that revolving bookcase door you found in the library or that secret door behind the Pharaoh's statue," Sonic advised; he'd seen this sort of movie hundreds of times. "There's got to be a way out somewhere. If Robotnik has puts traps or robots into this place, dude, he must have got in to do it. That means there must be a way in – and a way out."

"Unless he bricked it up on the way out," Tails lamented. "Perhaps we'll end up in one of those stories about people being bricked up alive. Oh, that's too gross!"

* * *

A faint wail came in the distance. The fur along Tails' spine raised up a little and he almost looked like Sonic in the spiny department.

"…What was that?" he whispered.

"We know what it was. It was just a special effect," Sonic scoffed. "Real ghosts don't exist. Everyone knows that."

A luminous phantom drifted into sight around the corner they'd left behind them. It looked like a venerable, white-haired old human, and a second ghost, which looked like a large green blob, bobbled along happily behind it. The man looked awfully convincing for a special effect.

"Woe is me," the figure lamented. "Condemned to haunt this ghastly castle all my days!"

"We're not scared. We know you're just a bogus special effect," Sonic challenged it. Tails cowered behind him to add extra substance to his words.

"You disrespectful little toe-rag," the man snarled. "I used to be one of the finest actors of my generation until that horrible, horrible man disposed of me. Now I have to haunt this awful place!"

"Disposed of you?" Tails said, wide-eyed.

"That's what I said, didn't I?" Are you deaf or something?" the ghost scowled and then let out another horrible wail.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Tails said. "I've got a bit of a headache already."

"Headache? Headache? Is that _all_? Listen, you furry dweeb, I'm condemned to haunt here for all eternity in endless suffering and misery. You have no idea what pain is truly like."

"Is it a bit like having the Count's poetry read to you every day for the rest of your life?" Tails asked helpfully.

"Worse. And it goes on forever. Long after you've scoffed your last pizza I'll be trapped here still, with no one for company. Oh woe is me!" the ghost wailed again. It really was a scary and distressing sound, like eerie bell chimes and something else, unnatural-sounding intertwined with it. Then the ghost's expression changed to that of a dark smile, combined with two glinting pools that were his eyes. "But I suppose I have some company now!"

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked suspiciously.

"I mean, if you became ghosts then at least I'd have you to talk too. You're not much, let's face it, but I suppose you'd be better than nothing."

"But we aren't ghosts. No one becomes a ghost unless… unless…," Tails said, cowering even more, realising what the ghost meant even before he uttered it.

"Right. Unless they're DEAD!" The ghost turned to his blobby green companion. Which had until now said nothing and remained invisible. "Udolpho: slime them, boy!"

* * *

Our heroes turned as one and fled as a huge glob of green slime slammed into the wall at their backs. They could hear the fizzling of powerful acid dissolving the stone behind them even as they ran like crazy.

"What are we gonna do? We can't stomp that. If we get hit by that yucky stuff, it'll make Mega Muck look like soda-pop," Tails yelped breathlessly as they ran at full pelt.

Behind them, the green blob flew through the air, spraying slime all around it. What was even worse was that they were now running ankle-deep in gooey sludge. It was abit like the Mega Mack of the Chemical Plant Zone, or at least it smelt like it, but fortunately it didn't make them stick to the floor. And it didn't threaten to dissolve them like the slime the green blob was spraying around. But it did make Sonic's freshly-cleaned sneakers slimy, and he absolutely hated that.

Sonic spotted a crimson metal door ahead of him and, as he got closer to it, his sneakers burning up the ground, he saw the sign on it: 'SPECIAL EFFECTS'. He smashed into the door and knocked it off its hinges. There was a huge clatter of equipment and props stored in the room, and right in the centre of the large table was a very complicated and weird-looking machine.

"Whatcha gonna do?" Sonic said. "Call Slimebusters!"

Of course, it had helped to have spied a manual bearing the title '_Ghost Neutralising with the Mark 12 Neutronic Slime Imploder_' on the table beside the machine. Desperately, he picked it up and began looking at the diagrams on the first few pages. Sonic was not good at working out the details of fabulously complicated scientific machinery, especially in such haste. The green spectre then appeared at the doorway.

"Keep back!" Sonic yelled, pointing something that looked very much like one of those vacuum-cleaner attachments you use for cleaning the stairs at the hovering horror. "Or else, you're slime history, ghostly blob-type dude."

The green blob wobbled up and down uncertainly.

_Man, ghosts being scooped up by vacuum cleaners. As if that'd ever happen, who'd play a game like that or yet alone watch a film with such a thing?_ The hedgehog thought, as the scene unfolded. It was just too cheesy for words.

"Now, why don't we just talk about this like reasonable guys?" Tails said hopefully. The blob sneakily advanced a metre or two, until Sonic held out the vacuum cleaner again and flicked a switch on the machine. It began to hum, and the blob retreated back.

"Udolpho!" a voice came from somewhere outside the room, getting closer. "I said slime them!"

* * *

The blob began to expand. It was winding itself up for a real mega slime-out. Sonic in desperation pressed every button he could find and hoped for the best. A ray of pearly light shot out from the attachment he was holding – and hit the blob!

The result was totally awesome, and plainly very expensive.

The blob imploded. It collapsed in on itself until it was nothing more than a single pinpoint of green light and then it was sucked away into the white light and drawn into the machine. Sonic felt the metal tube he was holding getting very hot, and the machine began to smoke rather worryingly. Then it began to hum, a grating buzz which got louder and louder.

"It's going to explode, Sonic!" Tails yelped. "Let's scarper!"

Just then, the white-haired ghost appeared in the doorway. He looked a bit miffed, to say the least.

"Yes, you run you wretches," he leered. "Come to me!" He stretched out his ghostly and elastic-like arms. The pair shrank back. The machine howled. Sonic kept on pressing switches and pulled a large red lever which had a sign which read '_Do Not Pull Under Any Circumstances_'.

* * *

The machine fell apart, but as it did so every bit of weird energy stored inside it discharged itself through the tube that Sonic was still holding. The recoil was so tremendous that the hedgehog was flung back against the far wall, knocking him into the middle of next week. A huge white blob of supernatural [or perhaps special effect-ual!] force screamed out far across the room, blew apart the ghost blocking the doorway out, and hit the wall of the passage outside. The stonework dissolved, and kept on dissolving. As Tails stared at it, he saw a tunnel being burned right through the stone – and at the end of it there was daylight!

Tails helped the stunned hedgehog to his feet. Sonic tottered a little unsteadily across the room, still seeing tiny green blob-things circling round his head from the force of hitting the wall.

"I think we just found a way out!" Tails squeaked excitedly.

"Yeah, like, totally!" Let's grab a souvenir or two before we go," the hedgehog growled, his senses slowly returning to him. "I can think of someone who just might be able to tell us something about them."

* * *

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 08: 09 AM**

"We're going to be melted down for scrap," Spielbot groaned, his tone faltering with fear. "I'll never get to make my best movies now. Blast that hedgehog!"

"I'm not so sure," Eggor said slowly, in a tone that was more calm and composed than Spielbot's was currently. Eggor in question had been doing some more research on Robotnik's monster atop the Great Tower and now he thought he understood it abit better. "The Master did get something he wanted."

"What? They escaped," the assistant director pointed out.

"Yes. But they will be back. And we have plenty of footage of them being eggstremely frightened," Eggor replied simply.

"Great. What good's that going to do?"

"Well, it's like this…"

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

I added some new parts to this chapter, as I felt the deux ex machina save device had gotten abit overused at this point [as if Sonic and Tails couldn't have taken those guys!].

Oh and that totally wasn't a dig at Luigi's Mansion by the way, I love that game [a sequel couldn't come soon enough]. I'm indifferent to Ghostbusters though. *shrugs*

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	15. What's In The Box, Dude?

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 15: What's In The Box, Dude? **

**Sonic's Pad / Knothole Village / The Great Forest / South Island / 15: 42 PM**

Sonic rubbed his eyes. He'd been asleep for hours and hours, and boy, had he needed his beauty sleep! All the excitement of the castle had drained him of energy. Now it was time to stuff his face!

Tails was still dozing when the smell of pizza made his nose twitch. Within seconds he was wide awake and scuttling downstairs, only to find a hedgehog sat before an empty pizza box with cheesy bits all over his paws. Fortunately, there were plenty more pizza boxes piled up beside him and they didn't look as though they were empty at all. Ten minutes later, after a hideously high-speed pork-out, the pals rubbed their stomachs and looked a lot happier with life.

If only the same could've been said to their comrades and friends who were still captured…

* * *

**Holding Cells / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 15: 42 PM**

"How long must we wait for zay foeels to come?" cried a familiar voice.

"Cool it, sugah 'twan," another voice came, a more feminine one, somewhere nearby.

"I agree with Bunnie, just relax Antoine. Sonic and Tails must have their reasons for not being here by now, if all those scenes that Robotnik and his robot crew were talking about have come to pass at least," the calm and strong voice of Princess Sally came.

"It's bad enough that slime ball Robotnik nabbed Nicole and brainwashed Rotor, so he could be the experimental guinea pig for all these horror monsters he wants to turn us into, without hearing you whine every five minutes Antoine!" Sally groaned, the lack of sleep due to worry and the force field's own bi-hourly 'wake-up call' shock, having affected them all by now.

The quartet, now a trio, had been attacked by Robotnik's entire South Island Badnik Army, and without the help of Sonic Tails they'd [naturally] been defeated with haste and taken back to Castle Robotnik. When they'd come to, all they could see was Robotnik's hideously smug grin and a robot, that he referred to as Eggor, by his side, watching them.

They'd been horrified when he'd willingly spilled all the eggs in his basket to them, his large ego having decided that no harm would come of it since they were his prisoners and playthings for the time being.

It was then that Bunnie had pulled her bold manoeuvre against the shield holding them prisoner, and reaped the consequences…

_FLASHBACK_

"_You swine Robotnik! I ain't gonna let yah turn us into monsters! Not me, not them, just no way!"_

_And with her anger intensified, she'd bunny-sprung from her crouched position in this huddled prison, and straight at the electric pink force field. _

_Sparks flew, the air crackled and with a resounding boom, this metallic damsel was thrown right back from whence she'd came. And as her worried comrades checked on her, they could be thankful that the electric discharge hadn't been enough to snuff out their southern belle. Even despite her metallic implants, slight burnt marks had appeared on her metal hand. Goodness knows what it would've done had it'd been her other flesh-riddled hand…_

"_Stupid pest! Did you think it'd be that easy to bypass? This barrier can only be broken or switched off from the outside, that's how the energy momentum of it all works. And now you're all like caged rabbits, with nothing to look forward to but to be abused & thrown away once you're dead. Ha ha ha!"_

"_Why I ought-a…" Bunnie spat back, a crazed fury shining in her eyes. She didn't take defeat well, even when the odds seemed impossible, it just wasn't her way._

_But the horrible feeling was that she knew he was right. It was useless, and her slumped back position she slowly assumed thereafter told everyone else just that. Robotnik and his pet flunkey went away, still taunting and laughing at them as they went and after a time, all was silent once more._

_/FLASHBACK_

Despite having only known Sonic and Tails for such a short time, Sally had become ever relent on the pair, especially Sonic, to be the wind that turns their tide back in the right direction. Namely, if any of them were captured or rendered otherwise immobile, then they'd come in and save the day, before they all gave Robotnik a bad day's worth of trouble.

But as the hours had flown by, she'd become less and less sure of her own judgement, and so thinking quickly on her feet, without Nicole to fully assess the barrier, she brainstormed a plan.

Just a minute or two later, she broke the silence that had befallen them.

"Guys, we can't expect Sonic and Tails to do absolutely everything whilst we just sit here…"

"I agree wholeheartedly Sally girl, those two are made of some strong stuff but so are we!"

"I guess so…" Antoine groaned, muttering a silent curse at his hedgehog rival.

"And so you guys, I think I have a plan," she said, surprisingly shaky for the strong minded Princess.

"What is it Sally girl?" Bunnie said back in response, the spirit in her voice still somewhat strained by her impulsive manoeuvre earlier.

"Yes, mi princess, what is zee amazing plan that you have thought of?" Antoine spoke up, his eyes and face hanging on Sally's every word, as per usual.

"Well…" she began again, still sounding not completely sure of herself, before she continued again. "It'll take some dose of luck on our part but, here it is…"

* * *

**Sonic's Pad / Knothole Village / The Great Forest / South Island / 15: 53 PM**

There was a knock at the door. Tails grabbed his cloves of garlic and stood defensively before the door, his tail-tips waggling ever so slightly.

"It's only me," came a warm, squirrely voice.

"The mummy…?" Tails asked suspiciously. It hadn't been so long since they escaped so he wasn't taking any chances.

"What do you mean?" the voice got more irked. "It's Rosie! Open the door, you silly boy! Where's Sonic? Are you two okay?" the voice came again, sounding overly concerned.

The hedgehog, who'd witnessed the whole thing, opened the door. Rosie and his other Knothole friends [some of who'd moved from other zones recently] were standing outside. He was incredibly relieved to see them all.

"Come on in, I'm afraid we just finished all the grub, guys."

"So what else is new?" laughed Rosie.

"Well then, I guess you won't be wanting any of these," a red anthromorph by the name of Freddy the Fly chuckled [if Sonic remembered his name correctly, as to be honest they hadn't spoken much yet]. Sonic could see now that he was carrying a pile of pizza boxes almost as tall as he was.

"Well, there's always room for some more," the hedgehog said hungrily. As he scoffed, he began to tell them of their exploits inside the castle. When he'd finished, his audience looked extremely worried.

"So Robotnik wants to turn us all into monsters? How blooming' typical," Freddy growled.

"Just let him try!" Rosie shouted, in a scowl-ridden voice that was quite unlike her, she was always so warm and friendly [but everyone has their moments, naturally]. It still gained her a few stares, and a grin and thumbs up from Sonic.

"But he can! He may have already started!" Dulcy the Dragon exclaimed. "Remember Antoine and his symptoms?"

Tails shuddered at the recall. And Sonic paused to recollect his thoughts, deciding to test the waters before he and Tails told them what they'd seen of Antoine in the castle. "…Just how bad was he before the gang left, guys? It might be important."

"Well," Dulcy began slowly. "He was as pale as snow before they all set out..."

"Yes, and?" Tails asked, not really wanting to know the worse.

"And… he also had weird little warts growing all over him. Not across the face, but over the rest of him."

"Oh, gross!" Tails said disgustingly, and Dulcy joined him with a 'eww' like expression on her draconic features.

"If he was that ill then why in blooming Mobius did Sal and the rest take them on their scouting mission?" Sonic cut in.

"What scouting mission?" Rosie queried, looking rather confused. "They never took him out anywhere. He did that of his own accord."

* * *

"Say wha?" Sonic and Tails both chimed.

"He just left and took off before they could stop him." She pointed to the nearby window, "He flew right out of these here windows and into the darkness."

"What a minute, so you're telling me, that Antoine was the reason the guys were out there at all?" Sonic said, looking shocked and abit annoyed, but also confused. Tails meanwhile was shaking now, their worst fears having been confirmed now and realised in the castle.

"Yes, sadly to say. And now they're all held up in that horrible place," Rosie grimaced, the members of the captured Freedom Fighters having been raised by her ever since the Great War and after Robotnik took over. They were like her extended family [as she had no real family of her own left].

"We did meet a Count who looked and spoke a hell of a lot like the 'Twan, but we couldn't tell ya if he had warts on him as he was covered head to toe in flashy Vampire-like stuff, wasn't he Tails?" Sonic said thoughtfully.

Tails nodded.

"We'll have to find out if we're able to help him, and the others if they've been compromised too," Tails pointed out. "That means going back… _in there!_"

Suddenly the others all looked as though they'd just remembered a very urgent appointment somewhere else.

"And we won't be able to just go in and smash the place up," Tails sadly. "We'll have to find out exactly what has been done to Antoine [and any of the others, if that is the case], and how to reverse it."

"We have a start," Sonic said angrily. "Let's hit the Emerald Hill Zone, lil bro. We've got something to show my old mate Mickey. Whilst we've gone, though, I think you guys had better stock up with lots of food and keep inside. Bar your doors and don't let anyone you don't know in."

"But if Robotnik wants to turn us into monsters, or at least you guys, since I'm already a _dragon_, and if he's already started with Antoine, then we might not be safe even letting in someone we do know," Dulcy pointed out. "They might have already been monsterfied," She paused, the opening and closing of her mouth giving away what she was thinking, badly. "I mean, umm, how do we know you aren't monsters-to-be?"

"You don't," Tails said grimly. "But if you see a werewolf with two tails and teeth as large as Rotor's fangs, then you can really start worrying! All right?" That made everyone quiet.

"Let's go," Sonic said, brimming with vitality after his massive eating binge. Boundless energy had returned to him, and he wanted to get out there and jolly well do something after all that talking. At least a good run to the Green Hill Zone would burn off some of his extra zip, even if there might be more talking to do there. And it avoided the Emerald Hill Zone, which was a relief to the speed demon. So with Tails in hot pursuit, he raced out of the door, pausing only to shove a couple bags of crisps, nuts and nachos into a bag for the journey.

Behind them, Tails and Sonic left a collection of very uncertain friends.

"I guess he's right. We'll just have to barricade ourselves in," Dulcy sighed. In the corner of the room a growling scowl came from Freddy the Fly, an impatient person as much as he was a spy for the Princess of Acorn herself. He was annoyed that those two 'newbie's' hadn't even asked for his advice or service! But alias… he hoped that his majesty and her fellow comrades were saved soon, as it'd give him _something_ to do.

Rosie however had her eyes closed in concentration, trying to figure out a plan that they could all join in on and help all the youngsters out. It seemed like they were in deep trouble this time so the more help they got the better.

_If only the King and his court were still here_, she thought glumly, as _then we'd need not send out innocent children to fight this planet encompassing war…_

* * *

Because they had snoozed most of the day away already, it was late dusk by the time Sonic and Tails sped into the beautiful plains of the Green Hill Zone. The skies above were a canvas blend of pinkish purple and dark night-heralding blues. There wasn't anything in the way of thunder, lightning, raindrops or that kind of thing, thankfully. They even heard the distant hoot of an owl which had cautiously crept back into the zone after having heard encouraging weather reports on the TV that morning. They ignored it and just kept on going. Eventually, the duo reached a familiar hut [mostly to Sonic mind], and then crept inside.

"Wake up, Mickey! This is important!" Sonic yelled, shaking the snoozing monkey's shoulders.

"Eh? Whassup?" I never touched that hooky gear, guvnor, on me old gran's life! I sw-oh, it's you blokes," Mickey said, trying to focus his eyes on the over-excited hedgehog.

"You know about electrical equipment and machines and stuff, don't you?" Sonic said, waving an open pack of dry-roasted peanuts under the confused monkey's nose. "We need some help. Come on, get up!"

"Long time no see to you too Sonic…" Mickey groaned, to which Sonic smirked and nodded in response.

"I've only just got off to sleep," Mickey complained. "I haven't been kipping well lately, what with all this bad weather keeping me awake. Go 'way. Gertcha!"

"Shan't" Tails replied for them. "If you don't help us then Robotnik will turn you into a monster too!"

The monkey groaned again and yawned as he stretched his arms out, slowly sitting himself upright in his camper-like bed. He had bags under his eyes big enough to carry a pizza box home in.

"Well, look, I'm tired and I'm not going to be at my best," he said defensively.

"There's no time to waste. Now, what can you tell us about this?" Sonic said firmly, thrusting the small machine he'd taken from the castle into the bleary-eyed monkey's face.

"Gimme a chance," the tired monkey protested. "Why does it matter anyway?" He got out of his bed, scratching at his long white nightshirt.

"It's from Robotnik's Castle. I think it's important," Sonic said simply.

"Oh well then, Mickey sighed, rummaging through his tool boxes. "Why didn't you chums say so? Let's fire it up and see what it does." Tails and Sonic sat down and began their patient wait.

* * *

After two hours of clipping on electrodes and clips, testing the box with a variety of strange-looking equipment of his own devising, Mickey was still hard at work.

"Where did you get all that stuff?" Tails asked, looking at the oscilloscopes and pulse generators and all the rest of the junk.

"Made a killing selling coconuts to the Roaming Romans," Mickey replied.

"They actually exist?" Sonic interrupted, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yep soiree, though unlike those old-housewife-like myths say, they really couldn't fight well enough to beat a poodle. They're a nice bunch though, though there's only a small group of them left due to Robotnik's workmanship over there in recent years," he shrugged.

"That sucks," Tails said glumly, to which Mickey and Sonic's silence said it all.

"Anyway, as I was saying…" Mickey began again. "I then used the money to buy up some bankrupt stock in the Casino Night Zone. Capone brokered the deal." Sonic bristled at the mention of the rat. "Look, I got six boxes of electric hair curlers if you want to buy one for Sally. Only cost ya ten pizzas. You could do with one for your spines, matey."

"I do NOT want my spines curly," the hedgehog protested angrily.

"You'd look super with a light perm, luvvie," the monkey sniggered. Tails and Sonic regretted recounting their exploits to him now. They had a horrible feeling that the monkeys and other inhabitants of the zone were going to be calling them annoying names for a long, long time.

"I like the way I am, thanks all the same," Sonic growled.

* * *

Mickey sat back and surveyed his work. "Well, chums, I've put your box through all the tests I can think of," he sighed.

"And?" Tails enquired.

"Well, it's Weird Science basically," the monkey apologised. "It's some kind of energy-storing and transforming device. Something to do with biological energy."

"Like in living things?" Tails offered.

"You putting in an entry for the Mobius Prize for Stating the Bleeding Obvious or what?" Mickey sniggered. "I said it was about biology, didn't I? Not much biology in rocks and stones, you dozy fox."

"Well if you're so clever, how come you can't tell us what it is?" Tails replied with a snort. Mickey looked a bit taken back by that.

"Can we use it?" Sonic asked.

"Weeeelll," Mickey hesitated, "you could. It would be incredibly dangerous, though. There's absolutely no way of knowing what may happen."

"Could it be the thing Robotnik is using for turning animals into monsters?" Tails asked him.

"It might be," Mickey said slowly, "but Robotnik must have a better way of doing it hidden somewhere else in the castle. He's not going to leave his most vital machine just lying about in a special effects store, is he?"

"Unless it's a prototype," Tails murmured. Not that anyone heard, seemingly.

"Well, that's enough nattering. We've got to split," Sonic said, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently. "How do you use the machine, exactly?"

"You just push the button marked 'On'," Mickey replied evenly.

"Oh. Didn't think of that," Sonic said rather grumpily.

"But don't do it except in an absolute emergency. Like, if you're about to be ripped apart into tiny, bloody pieces and gobbets of flesh by some hideous monster," Mickey added with relish.

"Thanks…" Tails replied dryly.

"And it won't be any good against robots either," Mickey also added.

Terrific," Tails concluded.

"And stand well back," Mickey chuckled.

"Yes, well, thanks for the help, dude, but now we superheroes must dash," Sonic finished, hurrying Tails along with him. "We have a madman and a castle still half-full of monsters to demolish. Not to mention Sally and the others to save, and possibly cure. Catch you later. Cowabunga dude!"

The hedgehog and fox dashed away through the palm trees and into the growing night, leaving an exhausted monkey to go back to sleep dreaming of bananas the size of marrows.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	16. The Tower Of Power

**

* * *

**

Disclaimer

: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 16: The Tower Of Power **

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 17: 06 PM**

Not for the first time, Eggor was worried. His plan for using the spare film crew to shoot some extra scenes which he, as director, might be able to use in the final cut of the _Castle Robotnik _movie hadn't worked out too well. Those [blasted] robots had saved Sonic and Tails from the Sally-Mummy construct in the Black Tower and Dr Robotnik was not pleased about that at all. He had instructed Eggor to find out what had gone wrong with their programming and have the robot responsible melted down for scrap. Since that robot [with his human-self with] was himself, he was _seriously_ worried. He had to shift the blame somehow.

He accessed all the data that he could get from the computer banks on the plans for the film crew in the past. He was alone in the laboratory, since that annoying Spielbot had gone off to take part in some interview Radio Robotnik was making for broadcast all over Mobius, so he could work without been seen by anyone important. Finally, after much searching through the data files, Eggor found what he was looking for: the set of the last Spielbot movie the robotic film crew had worked on and dispatched them to it, with instructions to await events.

With any luck, his robotic brain figured, I can ensure that irksome assistant gets the hell-fall from Robotnik and not me. I was only obeying my Self-Preservation Circuits, after all. Yes, I'm sure that's acceptable, he thought, as an inward smirk appeared on Snively's face within.

It was then the silence was ruptured by a scream and an odd one at that…

* * *

**Scrap Brain Zone / South Island / 18: 35 PM**

Old Robotnik had seriously upgraded the defences of his old fortress in the Scrap Brain Zone by the time Sonic and Tails arrived there once more. A squadron of Buzzers prowled the skies above and a small army of Grabbers patrolled the ruined, blasted ground around the castle.

"Huh! Badniks," Sonic growled. "Nothing we can't handle, though. There can't be more than a hundred of them. Piece of cake."

"Don't mind if I do. Oh, sorry Sonic; I see what you mean." Tails was studying the castle. After their long sojourn with Mickey, dusk had bypassed them and with the extreme weather gone, the light of the full moon allowed them to finally see the castle in its entirety.

"Hmm," Tails pondered. "There's the Black Tower, and next to it is the Grey Tower, then the White Tower where are so-called 'guest room' was. There's the really big tower in the middle – that's got to be where Robotnik's master laboratory is, and where the others are. We have a choice, buddy."

"Yeah. Do we smash it all down now or go on talking?" Sonic replied. He was itching to bounce some Badniks.

"No, wait a second. I reckon that Robotnik has stationed lots more Badniks inside those parts of the castle we know about, in case we return. That would be the sensible thing to do."

"So what? Let's get smashing!" Sonic was deep in the throes of one of his fits of over-enthusiasm.

"Chill out! Why don't we try and take the one way in through a part of the castle we haven't been into yet? Perhaps there will be fewer Badniks there. Then it'd be easier to get into the big tower in the centre, cure Antoine and rescue the others."

"I guess it makes bodaciously good sense. Now can I please go and bounce some heinous Badniks?" Sonic pleaded.

"Oh, go on then. Groovy, yeah, but let's head for that fourth funny-looking tower at the back there. The one with the big metal thing on top of it. That's the one place we haven't been, so there's a better chance of it being unguarded.

Sonic studied the gleaming metal rig perched right on top of the tower, and tried to figure out what it might be.

"Robotnik can't be drilling for oil, can he?"

"Don't think so," Tails figured, shaking his head. "We'll find out what's there when we get in. Hey! Come back! Okay then, don't come back… Wait for me!"

The first of the unsuspecting spider-based unit of Grabbers was just about to get smashed to smithereens as a pair of spinning, whizzing superdudes hit full throttle. Leaving a trail of smashed robots behind them, Sonic the Hedgehog, closely followed by a puffing Tails Miles Prower, returned to Castle Robotnik.

* * *

**Holding Cells / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 17: 06 PM**

An ear piercing wailing sound brought an annoyed and confused Eggor back to the holding cells. It'd sounded familiar he recounted to himself so seeing the pathetic coyote, Antoine, on his knees and screaming like a banshee, covering his stomach, wasn't a surprise at all.

_Why do I even bother?_ Snively growled to himself. _What a waste of space, the whole lot of them._

Despite the lack of care for the pest, the shell of Eggor approached the force field, noting that his two remaining comrades were looking ever worried about their friend… or acting their socks off that they do anyway.

"What is the commotion here, _vermin_?" he spat, in a slightly high-pitched robotic tone, laced with impatience.

"Mii is… I feel…" Antoine groaned through raspy intakes of breath, each breath in turn darkening the features of his face and eyes. It was either a great performance or the 'Twan was actually intentionally cutting down his oxygen intake to act the part. Either way, he looked almost like one of the undead. Not good, not good at all.

"You feel what? Spit it out already!" Eggor boomed, slamming his right foot down in frustration. _If only I could strangle this mongrel_, he was thinking.

"I feel sick, Mr. Robot sir… Very, very sick! Mii stomach… it feels like it wants to explode and I… I feel so hot and dizzy…" Antoine gasped out, his face now very pale and his eyes erratic.

"I see…" Eggor said simply, complementing on what to do with him.

_Hmmm, could his body be rejecting the prototype transformation-serum Robotnik installed in those Batbot's? If so… then I could have a fatality on my hands here._ Eggor stiffened. If any of the Freedom Fighter rebels died on his watch then he'd be destroyed, mecha and human both, whether Spielbot got the blame for his mishaps or not. He had to tread _very_ carefully here. One wrong move and he'd be out, for good.

His sensor-filled red eyes wandered over to the Princess and one of their recent recruits, a mobian woman deemed only 'Bunnie'. Next to nothing was known about that one… The pair still looked worried, but Sally's azure eyes were trained on his, waiting, watching out for any answer, any reassurance that _I_, could give them all.

_What a joke… This has to be a joke, right? Him save one of them? Hell… _

It took all of Snively's willpower to do so, but the desperation from before put him on a high and he rushed over to the control panel to switch the force field off, when… he stopped.

Then he laughed a cruel and merciless laugh, aimed seemingly at the blackened heavens above. The trio in the energy prison could only stop and stare, even Antoine almost messed up his cue to cough and groan due to the sudden shock of it all.

"Oh, I give you much applause, all of you. Especially you, desert fifth," Eggor spoke darkly, pointing dangerously at each of them in turn. "You almost had me going there."

"Wha-, what do you mean, robot?" Sally spoke up, for the first time since Eggor had come into the room, her voice a mixture of quivering confusion and disbelief.

"Don't act all innocent you spoilt little princess, I can see his acting game! You were all just waiting for me to turn off the force field and then you'd have gang teamed me and escaped, like the rats you all are." The look on their faces, betrayed the truth and if they could have peeked inside the robot shell, they'd have seen Snively smirking devilishly.

* * *

And speaking of that… The mocking tone, the high-pitch-ness… It'd quickly grown oddly familiar to Sally and Antoine, even Bunnie [by now]. But it couldn't be, _could it…?_

"Is that you… Snively?" Antoine piped up, now no longer bothering to continue his 'dying' act, his face looking a lot calmer and clearer than it had previous. His wide disbelieving-eyes were shared with Sally and Bunnie too.

"Heh, heh, heh… So the coward saw through this defensive hide, eh?" Antoine growled in response. "Yes, yes, it is me vermin. Do you like what my Uncle Julian picked out for me for Halloween? It's very _modern_, isn't it?" he sneered, loving anytime he can rub slat in their war-caused wounds, where their dreams of green forests and fields of flowers and peace just weren't gonna happen anymore.

He then lifted up the head of 'Eggor' revealing the small, bald headed midget inside.

"Shove a cork in it, Snively," Sally muttered, not looking forward to what their tormentor would put them through now. She'd of rather taken on that Badnik army again then have to listen to Snively's taunts, jibes and jokes. And she was sure the others would agree, well, maybe Antoine would take a bit longer, but he would _eventually_ she figured.

"Yeah, and Halloween was yesterday my dim-witted friend," Bunnie chimed at him, rolling her eyes in dramatic-like embarrassment. "Just admit that Robotnik wanted to shut you up for a bit so he zonked your scrawny hide into that there robot suit, like a little boy lost scout!"

The grin on Snively's face instantly slid into a scowl at this.

* * *

_The game was well and truly up now_, Sally thought, _what a pathetic plan! How silly of me to think it'd-, _but her thoughts were then interrupted as Bunnie then leant over and whispered in her ear. "Guess its Plan B then, Sally girl."

_Plan B?_ She wondered briefly. _Oh right, that plan... Oh we're gonna have fun with this one_, she thought as a small smile etched onto her face.

"OH," Bunnie shouted as though she was going to announce something important. "And I thought that Halloween was a time for putting on horrid or joyful masks, so why is your horrid face still on?" She smirked in his direction.

"Why you little wench…" the two-pint sized lackey growled in return, clutching his fists. _I mustn't get angry, I mustn't… I must be in control. It must be in control…_ Snively repeated to himself as though it was a mantra that'd been pounded into him since birth [and for all anyone knew, that may just have been the case].

Antoine stepped up to the plate next, Snively-bashing being something he wasn't afraid to do.

"Yessir, and why is thy so small? Were your forbearers dwarfens or something else foule?" the coyote muttered in his highly-patronising tone.

"My parents were NOTHING of the sort, you FILTHY COWARD!" Snively howled, his eyes ablaze. "As if you could ever be anywhere near as good at your bustard father was, at _dying_ at least," he ended, regaining some anger control and insulting the coyote were it hurt the most. And when he got no outcry and just glare and growl, he knew he'd succeeded. _What a pity really…_

Short of insulting his looks and ancestry, there was one topical thread that they hadn't shot at him yet. But then Sally always loved saving the best laid-plans to last…

"And why are you so _bald_, Snively? Even Nicole has never managed to work it out. I mean short of those few hairs at least, in fact; maybe it's for the best that they're pulled out too. Whatcha think guys and girls?" the princess spoke, enjoying every moment of taunting their lower-foe.

The happy utters of 'um-hmm' and nods told everyone present what they thought. And it was then that Snively exploded.

He ran straight at them as fast as his legs could carry him, with his left robotic fist held strongly at his outstretched side, primed to batter some furry heads in. All sentiments of controlling his anger had been flushed from him without a trace, and instead turned his dirty peachy skin into a foul red tomato-looking hue.

_Insult his size and ancestry they could, but his lack of hair? That called for FURY!_

Despite never been scared of what Snively could do to them, for all the insults they'd thrown at him and more, this enraged Snively did slightly unnerve the contained trio, mostly Antoine. Probably because he'd never completely 'lost' it like this before. But still, it meant that their plan had been a success. _Just a few seconds more…_

The human cannonball was just inches from the force field, and thus enough to see the pampered furs on Antoine's exposed skin, when he came to an abrupt stop. His eyes unclouded and he was literally flailing back and forth on his tiptoes, fighting a war with gravity, in order to prevent him slamming his metallic hide into the aforementioned field. It was rather humorous to watch from the Freedom Fighter's point of view, but lady luck wasn't on their side today as Snively arched himself backward, falling struck on his toshe.

He said nothing to them, which spoke bounds, just growling and muttering inaudible curses under his breath as he left the room through the sliding metallic doors, grabbing his 'Eggor' helmet from the document-clattered table he'd left it on as he went.

* * *

Their plan of escape had well and truly gone bottoms up, and a certain princess was none too happy about that, especially at underestimating Snively.

"I'm sorry guys…" she began, her azure eyes angry and downcast. It was obvious that was she mentally beating herself about it, her and Sonic shared a certain stubbornness like that. "It was a pathetic plan. I'm sure Nicole would've done a much better job of it," she continued, the whole lot of this Castle Robotnik business had really worn her gears, and she wondered whether she was still fit to suit as the leader role of the Freedom Fighters.

She sighed and sat herself down on the stone floor, where Bunnie and Antoine drew closer and joined her.

"Look Sally girl," Bunnie began tenderly, knowing how much duty and failure both meant to her, not just in terms of the war they were fighting, but to her personally as well. It was etched into her as hard as the earth, miles under their feet, were. And that, was why the 'sugah hog' as Bunnie called Sonic, was so good for the royal, she thought. He could soften her in time, perhaps. But the war will have to come first, she concluded grimly.

"You tried your hardest with what you had. And like that no good Robuttnik and midget-sized Grinch said, there's no way out of this but to turn it off from that there control-switch or pelt it hard from outside. Even Nicole would've told us that if she were here. What I mean is…" she stumbled slightly, hoping she wouldn't offend too much. "You did your best Sally girl, even if it couldn't get us lot outta this stink-hole, you still tried your best and that's all that matters. Sonic and Tails will handle the rest and come on down and rescue us, you'll see. This team isn't down for the count yet baby!" she finished, a tender reassuring smile on her face.

Sally almost shed a tear at her friend's comforting words, but held it back. She knew she was right, but it didn't mean she had to like it. She didn't like feeling… useless. Still, she managed to smile back and shared a friendly hug with one of her closest semi-new friends.

"Thanks Bunnie, I really needed to hear that. And now I guess we wait," she sighed, a faint glimmer of a smile on her face as she did nevertheless, though she knew not why.

"Yep. Time for the boys in blue and orange to lead the charge for a change. Let's hope they can hack it!" Bunnie belted out, her go-happy devil-may-care attitude ringing back in full spirit once again.

"Me too Bunnie, or else that blue dimwit is gonna get haunted by me forever," she smirked. She thought she heard a mutter of something like 'as if' from Antoine in jest. On the inside however, just thinking about it made her more and more unsure, the wild spirit of that boy was too unpredictable, and Tails was still too young to be caught up in all this…

Still, they were their only hope of defeating Robotnik and getting out of here.

And thus Sally prayed, hard.

* * *

**Scrap Brain Zone / South Island / 18: 40 PM**

"Look! There's a way in, a door," Tails gasped as he drew beside Sonic. Buzzers were swarming from the top of the tower and, for every one the superheroes bounced and crashed, another two flew down to the attack. "Let's get away from these nasty Badniks!"

Sonic smashed down the door and hurriedly looked around for something else to smash. He was slightly miffed to find that Tail's guesstimate had been right and the place appeared unguarded after all.

"Don't forget, we're here to find out what's going on before we smash everything in sight," Tails said in best party-pooper vein. "We've got to find a cure for Antoine, right? And stop anyone else being turned into a monster!"

"Right-o," Sonic sighed. "This place sure looks familiar, don't you think?"

Tails looked around, noticing for the first time the giant chrome bell that loomed over their heads and the stained glass-like windows that were pressed into the stone walls every so often on the upper levels. It was like a typical gothic castle's clock tower.

"Yeah, it's déjà vu all right!" Tails replied back in earnest, pointing out the bell, windows and walls that he'd just observed.

Any reply Sonic may have offered was cut short however by a sudden yelping scream, which Tails was surprised to find that it had come from the blue hedgehog himself, who was shaking and yelping as though he had a bad rush of fleas at this current moment.

The confused fox was about to ask what was wrong, this out of character act perplexing him, when he saw it. Right there on Sonic's right shoulder was a dollop of some greenish brown sludge, and more of it continued to drip down, causing the hedgehog to shiver as though he'd caught a horrid cold, from… above.

* * *

The pair looked up to find a horrifying spectre towering over them.

It was hunched over and leering at them with bloodshot eyes, and looked rather much like an abominable ape of some kind, at least, excluding the slime that covered its whole body. It had two horribly distinct features however that made Sonic groan inwardly, and as it leaped down from its aerial position the two tusks, covered with snotty like slime were clear to anyone to see. It looked like 'Ferdy 1'; the pompous butler was back for round two!

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Sonic grinned, taking his battle stance. "Could have done without the monster drool but this is better than just doing nothing!"

_At least this slime isn't mega acidic anymore, or I'd be one smoking hedgehog!_

Through his onyx-coloured eyes Sonic could see that unlike 'Ferdy the First', this creature was nothing but an enraged, wild, well, monster now. Its crimson eyes and bear-like roars and grunts suggested only one thing, it was hungry and they were its prey. And in the next few seconds, out of the corner of his eye, the hedgehog saw the slime monster's left fist expand in size and leapt to attention.

"Tails!" he cried, "Scatter!"

And the twosome did precisely that, with Tails running the other way so that Sonic had a full-on shot at the creep, and he could assist as backup, or something. It'd seemed like the best idea at the time, considering his lack of battle prowess and confidence, the fox thought to himself.

Sonic, however was on the offensive and starting with a backwards flip, he then curled up into his spiny ball, bouncing off the stone wall behind and smacked straight into the slime-one's stomach. It groaned a tiny bit but otherwise it'd shrugged off the whole thing, it's body mass was just too large, with or without its initial Walrus genetic build.

It also had a short attention span as just moments later it spun round, far too fast for something so large, and using its arm power it sprinted across the clock tower's floor like a gorilla towards Tails.

Sonic seeing this scrambled as to what to do in his mind, he knew that Tails wasn't as strong as he was and despite on a few occasions having proved himself capable of looking after himself, the hedgehog knew that he had no chance here. So he shouted at his buddy to jump to the side, and then the cerulean hedgehog jumped straight at the monster with his feet outstretched.

The slimy, stinky and garbage fragrance around him told the hedgehog that his spur of the moment plan had worked, for he was on the shoulders of the creature, which was moving around erratically and trying to shake him off. Now he just had to ride it, somehow, into going off the ledges nearby and off the tower. Not an easy task with no steering controls…

"H-hey T-Tails!" Sonic cried, holding on for dear life and trying not to look down, at his ruined shoes.

"Yeah, Sonic, what should I do?!"

Instead of saying it out loud the hedgehog just pointed to the overlooking ledge straight ahead of them, and getting the plan, Tails took off into the air with his twin tails and flew speedily towards it.

And like a moth to the flame, the slime monster followed the tasty fox morsel, creating decent-sized indents in the floor as he went.

Tails was at the edge now just waiting for Sonic and the monster to catch up, his mind racing with nerves at what he'd have to do next to seal the deal. But a thumbs-up from his bro gave him the confidence and determination to succeed and with that, he jumped.

* * *

The resulting feelings Tails got from it were nothing short of exhilarating as he jumped into the cool autumn air, a roaring monster right behind him. He'd gotten used to flying a lot by now but jumping into complete oblivion like his, with only his tails to save him was still nerve-racking and a skill he needed to work on.

Thankfully, for both he and Sonic's sakes, the pressure wasn't enough to damn him [this time], as the fox was now hovering in mid air, miles above the ground below.

Unfortunately for them, the monster wasn't as stupid [or as weak] as Sonic had imagined, as at the platform's edge it growled, stretched it's right arm out and grabbed Tails by his tails before throwing him upward and into the bell above. The hedgehog was then swung around and thrown at the neighbouring wall before he could react to his friend's plight.

Luckily, the hedgehog managed to avoid becoming a splattered ingredient for hedgehog pie by utilizing a last minute spin dash in the air, allowing him to grind like a buzz saw down the wall and reverse his momentum so that he could land steady on his feet.

A chiming and deafening noise reverberated throughout the clock tower, echoing in and out of existence as a particular fox slowly slid down the bell's side and fall hopelessly to the ground.

Sonic rushed over to him, the monster was just standing near like a statue for some reason, so he took his opportunity then before it changed its mind.

"Tails! Tails are you okay buddy? Speak to me!" the hedgehog cried out, desperately shaking the fox to propel him back to the conscious realm. He hadn't even checked for a pulse yet but Sonic's mind was too in turmoil and his heart felt like it was caught in his throat, so I guess it's not too surprisingly for someone to forget that titbit.

"Ugh… S-Sonic? Is that you?" Tails moaned groggily in reply a few more moment later, his head still ringing from his date with the bell. It'd be a miracle that he didn't get a concussion in a few hours time from it.

"Yeah, it's me man… It's gonna be okay. Just you stay here and relax, I'll go take care of-" Sonic hurriedly said.

"Hey Sonic, what's up with the monster?" Tails enquired, the blurriness of his vision having realigned itself with reality.

"Oh, that. I don't know bro, he's just been standing like that, and twitching every so often every since you rang the… bell." The duo's eyes lit up and they exchanged a glance.

"You don't think?" Sonic began. "That's he's weak to loud, ear-piercing sounds? I'd say it's the best explanation we've got, Sonic. Problem is how do we use that to defeat this creepy thing?" Tails explained.

Sonic sat down on the floor trying to will a plan into his mind, knowing full well that the bell's cationic-rendering effects wouldn't last for much longer. Thinking was a stressful art for him and one he mostly left to Sally, Nicole and Tails, but the first two weren't here and Tails had just had a horrible experience, so he needed to do this one himself.

Looking around the room seemed to help though as a minute or two later, the hedgehog sprung to his feet and then whispered his plan to Tails.

Hey, you never know who might be listening!

* * *

And as Sonic had ordained, the monster finally shook off the bell's effects and was on the offensive once more, sending stretchy fist after the other at both him and Tails in turn. But still, despite his earlier survival instinct kicking in and allowing him to avoid death via the bottomless pitfall to the ground of earlier, he was still just an angry and intelligent creature, one with a weakness they well knew now. As far as Sonic was concerned this slime-bucket was history. _That is, if this plan worked._

_BAM! BAM! POW! _

These wall-pounding sounds were the results of Sonic ducking and jumping over the slime monster's roaring arm swings, as he was bearing the full brunt of its attention now that Tails was running up to his position.

Through the lone wooden door the fox had gone through, and as the hedgehog had predicted it'd bared a stone staircase that lead upwards, and out onto the clock tower pendulum itself. Tails was abit out of breath once he reached this top so he took a few moments to survey the sight before him. The platform consisted out four wooden beams, laid out like an x shape, and leading to a more stable, metallic foundation in its centre. Above that sat the chrome bell that Tails' head personally knew so well. And above _that_, on the front of a block-curved shape, was the clock face and its two gold and silver lined hands, which in the rising moonlight outside, looked like a smirking and cruel face.

On the central platform was the goal of Tail's expedition however, meaning he shouldn't hopefully be meeting up with the bell [or any other kinds of bell] anytime soon.

Now he just needed to wait and see if Sonic could get the monster into position before they could implement their die hard plan. It was all or nothing now, and they were running out of time to spare.

* * *

The speed demon had his work cut out for him; he not only had to out-manoeuvre the slimy creature but he had to get it [and himself] into prime position, it needed to jump dammit!

_Maybe… if I start jumping around it'll try and imitate me?_ Sonic thought to himself. _It couldn't hurt could it? These creatures have all had one-track baby minds anyway._

And that was exactly what the blue superhero did, despite how silly it all looked. But at least it worked, and the sludge monster looked even funnier doing it. It took all of Tail's strength not to burst out laughing at the jumping parody below him, but he held firm nevertheless.

_I've got to time this just… right…_ Sonic thought. If he came in at the wrong moment then the plan will fall as flat as a pancake. The hedgehog and monsters jumps were getting higher and higher than before now and Sonic had his fingers at the ready to give the signal on when to…

_GO!_

The blue hedgehog rocketed into the air and supercharged his spin attack as much as possible before the inevitable collision, right into the monster's groin area. Despite its apparent lack of 'bits', the monster still howled in fury but then it was too late, he was sent spiralling upward.

Sonic fell with a speedy grace to the ground, grinning with joy that his plan had worked. You see, even this stubborn and average intellect of a hedgehog had realised quickly that the monster was too heavy to shift whilst on ground level, but in the air, the balance between weight and gravity was much different, and so using a heck load of momentum [and the added help of gravity], he'd managed to propel the monster straight into the epicentre of the bell!

And without a moment to waste, the hedgehog cried out: "Go Tails! Go!"

"Right, Sonic!" the fox replied, his hands gripping the central platform's lone lever tightly.

With that, the bell contained beast was sent swinging to and fro and the lovable deafening sound was brought back once more. It was a shame they hadn't thought to bring any earmuffs on this trip, as they really wanted some now. But I digress, despite the current slow momentum of the bell, the ringing sound drained any will of the monster to make a hasty escape and so Tails swung it back and forth even more, feeling the lever loosening with each circuit.

On the ground Sonic was just staring at the bell in amazement, with two fingers stuck in his ear and a body covered in yucky slime to boot. It was moving so fast now, it was almost a blur and he wondered what would happen to the monster if they continued on forth.

A minute later, with the help of a tiring Tails, he got his answer.

The slime monster had been roaring all the way through this self-ordeal but suddenly he just croaked, quite literally and then… He just exploded!

A shower of green and brown sludge and body parts covered the clock tower, Tails and Sonic [as hard as he tried to avoid it]. It was an interesting but stinky end to the affair.

It looked like the sound waves had just ruptured the monster's already unstable body, Tails had explained after he'd floated back down, but Sonic didn't really care much, all he wanted to know was…

"Where are the nearest washrooms? I'm covered in monster guts and now my spines need doing... AGAIN!"

* * *

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 19: 25 PM**

After finding a bathroom [it was literally down the corridor from the now slimy clock tower], the duo had followed a series of signs leading to 'The Station'.

There was a maze of maroon, plushly carpeted passages, elevators, and doors with red lights winking alongside them and a sign reading 'ON THE AIR' over one of them.

"Just like a radio station, right?" That's what the metal rig on top of the tower must have been: a radio transmitter. I bet you a double-cheese deep pan to a peanut this is where that dastardly madman has shifted Robotnik Radio to." The hedgehog did his best to lean the door up on its hinges in order to keep the Badniks from outside out. The noise of some angry Buzzer swarms was getting louder and louder out there, you see.

"Let's just hide somewhere for a minute until we're sure they've gone away," Tails said reasonably. They pushed open the first door they found and leapt into a hospitality room.

"Hey, this must be a hospitality room," Sonic said brightly.

"And what's a hospitality room when it's at home?" Tails asked.

"It's where overpaid radio hacks drink themselves stupid and fawn over over-rated and under-talented guests who aren't worth getting on to TV," Sonic sniggered.

"How do you know so much about it then?" Tails asked suspiciously.

"Oh, well, erm, I'm the hero. I know lots of trivial stuff, honest," Sonic covered hastily. "But that's not what's important right now, dude. There are two things that radically matter here. First, it's probably safe to hide in here."

"Well, that's cool," the fox said, relieved.

"And even more importantly, if you open those cupboards right there you will most indisputably find enormous amounts of ultra-tasty snack-type nibbles. Gong! It's supper time!"

One brief, face-filling, stomach-bloating intermission later, Sonic sprawled out, porked to the gills, on one of the luxurious armchairs.

"This is the life, my little fox buddy. I could get used to this. Perhaps I ought to become a guest on radio shows full-time," he sighed.

"I don't think so," Tails said dubiously. He was anxious when Sonic got close to any kind of broadcasting studio. The hedgehog's liking for being famous of ten led him to get into scrapes he shouldn't.

"What is on the radio anyway?" Sonic wondered. He flicked on the radio on one of the nearby tables, made from the finest woodland trees. It didn't need tuning in, since the only station it broadcast was Robotnik Radio, of course.

* * *

"… and today, on _Movie World_, we have Spielbot S as our guest. World-famous movie-maker for Trundlin' Robot Productions, Spielbot S is here to tell us about his art."

Sonic groaned. "Borr-ing!"

"And also about the movie he is currently working on, _Castle Robotnik_."

Sonic perked up his ears.

"Mr Spielbot, if I may call you that…"

"Please do," came a smarmy robotic voice.

"I understand this is your biggest-budget picture yet."

"Indeed. The executive producer, none other than Dr Robotnik himself, has insisted on the very highest production and creative values for this timely project."

"Why can't they speak properly?" Tails moaned. The smooth robot's voice droned on.

"Quite literally no expense has been spared for the special effects in this movie which is the best I've ever worked on, and I mean that most honestly and sincerely."

Sonic felt faintly nauseous.

"Can you tell us about the storyline?" the interviewer asked.

"Well, listeners, it concerns the brave attempts of a truly heroic scientist to push back the boundaries of knowledge into hitherto uncharted areas, to boldly go where no brain has gone before…"

"Wait a minute, I've heard that line before," Sonic thought aloud.

"… and the attempts of a pair of dangerous evil pinko subversive guerrilla terrorists to prevent his eggsceptional eggsperimental work from coming to fruition. Fortunately, they are defeated – after a series of dangerous, violent scenes unparalleled in Mobius movie history – by the scientist's master creation."

"Now that sounds interesting," Tails growled. "What's that, I wonder? Something 'orribly 'orrible, I bet."

"Huh," Sonic sneered, "this is bogus! Gorillas indeed! Anyone can see that I'm a hedgehog and you're a fox." Tails hushed him; he wanted to hear whether this Spielbot would tell them what this creation was.

"And just what is that creation?" the interviewer probed. Tails and Sonic listened intently. They were about to be disappointed.

"I'm afraid I can't reveal that," Spielbot said, with just the right hint of 'I know you want to know, so I'll pretend that I'd really like to tell you' in his voice.

"Bogus or what?" Sonic said sadly.

"Well, perhaps listeners to fab, groovy Robotnik Radio would like to be reminded about some of your previous excellent movies before they phone in. Yes, don't forget, all you eager listeners, you can call us on 555-ROBOTNIK with your questions for our world-famous guest. And the lines are open… now!"

"What was that number?" Sonic perked up.

"That number again: just dial 555-ROBOTNIK to get through live on air, right here on Robotnik Radio where you are listening to Robot Robotson talking to Spielbot S about his career in movies," the radio voice obliged.

* * *

"I have an idea," Sonic smirked.

Tails got worried immediately. The hedgehog had already picked up the phone conveniently sitting on the table before him, and was keying in the dialling code with a determined grin on his face. He got through and was put hold for the first call by a robotic secretary.

"And we have our first caller on the line," the presented said happily a couple of minutes later when the Spielbot had finished his account of his long and glorious Eggscar-winning career. "What is your name, sir?"

"Hello, Brian, first-time caller! I'm, umm, Ronald Rat from the Casino Night Zone," Sonic lied in a squeaky voice, apparently doing his best to imitate a common rodent. "I used to be on breakfast telly, remember?"

"Err, no, not really," the interviewer said slightly worriedly.

"It was a while ago," Sonic said. "Anyway, Brian, I'd like to congratulate Mr Spielbot on providing us, the humble general public, with his wonderful movies for so many years, which have given us all a radically huge amount of pleasure. Like, totally mega-awesome or what?"

"Thank you so much," said Spielbot S. He was audibly preening himself.

"Now, am I right in thinking that a lot of your movies have featured weird and strange alien species?" Sonic queried.

"Oh yes, indeed," Spielbot said a little uncertainly. He clearly wasn't sure what question was coming next.

"I just wondered if you'd been involved on any research into aliens and monsters," Sonic squeaked on. "As background research for your latest, radically bodacious movie epic."

"Erm," stuttered Spielbot. "What do you mean, caller? I mean, Mr Rat?"

"The monsters in your new movie. Have you been in involved in scientific research for their creation, and what can you tell us about it?" Sonic was fishing for information. There was a long silence.

* * *

"I didn't say there were any monsters in my new movie," Spielbot said suspiciously. Tail's eyes grew wide; uh-oh!

"I'm sure you did," Sonic said, forgetting to use his squeaky voice. He couldn't remember himself now.

"I most certainly did not!" Spielbot retorted with more certainty. "I said the movie was about heroic scientific research, and I did not mention monsters at all. Just where are you calling from, Mr Rat?"

"Put the phone down Sonic!" Tails yelled. "They're going to trace the call!" Unfortunately, he shouted loud enough to be heard over the phone.

"Too right we are," Robot Robotson snarled angrily, his usual fawning cool terminally stripped away. "You're about to become an ex-rat, Ronald. Or should that be an ex-hedgehog?!"

Sonic slammed down the receiver. "It seemed like a cool idea. Thought we might learn something," he pleaded unconvincingly.

"Let's just get out of here," Tails said grimly. "I don't want to be an ex-rat. If you know what I mean."

* * *

They fled from the hospitality room, only to find the veritable squadron of Buzzers swarming into the tower through the one exit door. There were so many of them it would surely have been impossible to fight a way through. Sonic thought he could do it, but if anything came from inside the tower – and he was sure something would turn up after his mega-gaffe on the radio station phone-in – him and the little guy would be boxed in and attacked from all sides. Even a superbrave supercool megadude like, well, you know who, didn't fancy that prospect. With Tails right behind him, he dashed off further into the depths of the tower.

For some reason, the Buzzers didn't follow them. Sonic guessed they were staying to guard the way out. But up ahead he could see rows of Bomb Bots and Ball Hogs trundling towards them. There was a seriously large number of them, and their expected ETA was any moment n–"

"Yikes!" Tails yelped and hared down a side passage. Sonic sped after him. He would have loved to smash the Ball Hogs at least, but the unpredictable Bomb Bots were another kettle of Badniks entirely. They were really far too dangerous to attack en masse, whatever that meant.

As they tore off down the new passage, they didn't notice that the floor had changed beneath them. Instead of solid ground and plush carpets, the floor was made of cellular matrix. It was something of a surprise, then, when, five metres along, it just fell in on itself, dumping them down into a wholly dark pit beneath the passage.

Thankfully unhurt by the fall, they got to their feet and gazed unhappily up at around a hundred Badniks who had gathered around the top of the pit and were peering down at the pair with horribly eager on their metal faces. Rather than take on so many, Sonic made a dash for the door set in the wall of the pit.

"Welcome," gloated a monotonous and oily-smooth voice from the room behind the door. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Is it, is it – Antoine?" Tails gasped. _Another one?_ Sonic thought. "Oh lumme, it's the grossest thing I've _ever_ seen!!"

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

Wow, that's the longest chapter yet! And don't go thinking they'll all be as long as this [or my Tides of Chaos… ones] cos they certainly won't be as the majority of my original content has been implemented already. Though there's still some small stuff left to cover, heh-heh.

Hopefully the Freedom Fighters weren't too OOC, but I felt that this served as a good insight since they won't be appearing again till the endgame.

The slime monster scene was inspired by Castlevania [for some reason I can't fathom, as I've never played any games from that series], and the sound waves weakness was down to Spiderman's Venom [and Carnage].

I also changed the radio station form 'Radio Robotnik' to 'Robotnik Radio', it just flowed better for me, plus I think the big man would like putting his name in front of things.

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	17. March Of The Killer Coyote

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

* * *

**CHAPTER 17: March Of The Killer Coyote **

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 20: 17 PM**

The place was almost as dark as one would expect a crypt but it was lit up with torches adoring the moisture-ridden walls. This room looked like a torture chamber, the horror in question being sat upright in a black, throne-like chair in its central axis, its back as stiff as a steel rod, it wore black all over, so about all they could see was its head and metallic boots.

In appearance it looked [again] like their fraidy pal Antoine, but there were some differences from their chum which weren't exactly subtle. His head appeared to have a map grid all over it and was entirely without his golden locks; he was bald as the day you are born. Most notable, however, were the pins which protruded from his face and skull all along the grid lines. The pinhead-covered thing leered at them with a sadistic grin and lifted up a strange black box in its crimson-tattered gloves as our heroes approached uncertainly.

Suddenly, the door slammed behind them, sealing them in this weird room. High on the web-covered walls were swivel-mounted cameras twisted to take in the scene at every angle. Sonic and Tails were back in Robotnik's clutches again for sure.

"Like, umm, you have a radically unusual appearance, spiky dude," Sonic said questioningly. "You're not related to Antoine de Collette are you, by any chance? 'Cause he's an, umm, good chum or ours?"

"Antoine… de… Collette?" the thing said mockingly, its voice halfway between the irritating grinding noise you get off an old door and the growl of a seriously annoyed tiger, and there no spool of French in there anywhere, surprisingly. "I don't think so. Oh no…"

"It's just that, umm, he's been growing funny little warts where you have those, well, pin things sticking out of your skin. Aren't they painful?" Tails asked, the sight of this thing grossing him out, as evident by the paling on his face.

"Not at all. Oh no, I'm no wimp like my blueprint," the thing said casually, muttering the last bit under its ghastly breath. It waved one pale glove-less hand and there was a loud bang and a steaming cloud of smoke from right behind them.

"Eek!" Tails cried out and leapt forward to avoid having his twin tails set on fire. "Hey mate, that wasn't very friendly!"

"I'm not always a very friendly person," the thing snarled. "I _like_ making things go bang for no real reason. I'm very good at it too. Oh yes."

* * *

"Who are you?" Sonic asked plainly. He wanted to buy himself some time by talking to this monster so he could look around for some means of escape; they'd delayed too much already. To his dismay, though, there wasn't anything obvious on offer. Besides, he didn't want to take too any risks with something that could cause explosions whenever it wanted to.

"My name is Pinhead, but you can call me Pinny. Oh yes," the thing sniggered. "I'm a Senileobite."

"Oh really? And what exactly is, an, umm, whatever it was you just said then?" Tails asked hopefully.

"That's not important right now," Pinny replied, rolling his strange metal box around his hands.

"And what's that?" Sonic asked, pointing to the box. "If I may be so bold to, like ask?" he added.

"It's called a Dement Configuration. I can turn you into a drooling lunatic with no brains if I wish to, using this. Mind you, that wouldn't be difficult in your case. Oh no," Pinny said dryly.

Sonic tried to ignore the rather childish insult. But failed. "Look, thumb-tack, you bogus porcine pin-cushion, we're here to find out what's happened to our chum Antoine, and it looked like he could be turning into something like you. We want to know how something that heinous happens to a regular, French-spewing dude."

"But Antoine's turning into a Vampire," Tails injected in confusion. "He can't stand garlic and he's very pale, just like a vampire. He could be that Count now for all we know."

"Well, I don't like garlic either, and as you can see I am very pale, but that doesn't make me a vampire," Pinny said, a little miffed. "I'm a Senileobite, like I told you. Oh yes…"

* * *

"Well then tell us how you become one, and how to stop it, or else I'm gonna bash you one!" Sonic yelled.

It wasn't exactly the right thing to say. The creature rose to its feet and waved its sole glove-tattered hand. Another bang came from behind Sonic and Tails, who both leapt with fright. With a second wave, the spiny coyote-thing somehow conjured a huge web of straps and chains which swooped around Sonic and pinned him to the wall.

"Bash me now, you foolish flea-bitten hedgehog," Pinny snarled angrily. Sonic tried to wriggle free, but stopped trying very quickly when he realised that every movement was making his bonds tighter.

Then the coyote-thing raised his box and gave its edges a special secret twist. It switched shape from a box to something more complex, and began to glow with an eerie orange light. The faint smell of fried bacon, all of things, permeated the room.

Sonic started to wobble and drool. He gurgled a bit and his head hung limply on his chest.

"Sonic? Speak to me, Sonic!" pleaded Tails.

"Coochie-goo," dribbled Sonic.

Pinny turned to give Tails a stare that said 'Now it's your turn, puny creature', but the little fox was too fast for him. Trademark twin tails spinning, he crashed into the black-clad pinheaded coyote-thing and knocked him flying. The strange magic box went spinning from the thing's hands and flew high into the air. It smashed against a wall camera which had been filming the scene, and then it kind of exploded.

Well, no, that's not strictly true. It didn't just go bang; it erupted in a wave of many coloured rays, smoke and loud, eerie, wailing noises. A wave of powerful, magical rays sprayed through the entire room, and suddenly Tails was spinning in the air, lazily drifting, unable to control his movements. In the distance he could see Sonic spinning around just as helplessly, freed from his bounds which 'Pinny' had restrained him in.

* * *

Tails figured that they were in some Special Zone warp, due to the stars flying around him, a place that only Sonic had small grains of knowledge of from prior adventures into it. Somehow, whatever gimmickry had been packed into the – what was it called? – Dement Configuration had projected them into it when it'd been destroyed. The good news was that there wasn't any sign of Pinny and Sonic was by his side. Bouncing around through this topsy-turvy spectrum of colours, the variety of which of stretched through the known and into the unknown, he put his paw over his head and hoped for the best. Where they would be dumped out of this astral chute, he could only guess.

Tail's head started to go wobbly, following the lead of his stomach, which felt very bad indeed. He saw double, and then triple; there were three drooling blue hedgehogs circling around him. Tails shut his eyes and started yelling, "There's no place like home! There's no place like home!"

When the fox's senses returned to him, he was lying on the ground on the fringe of some jungle, next to a shattered box and one drooling Sonic. The only good thing about the scene was that Sonic was covered from head to foot in Rings, the mysterious and powerful energising golden rings that had existed on Mobius since, well, no one knew exactly, but it was assumed to be a really, really, _really_ long time ago!

Well, at least these will protect us, wherever we flipping are, Tails thought sadly.

"Coochie-goo," Sonic dribbled happily. "Glug, glug. A-gooo!"

Some days, the fox thought, I really ought to stay in bed…

* * *

**Unknown Location / South Island / 20: 33 PM**

Taking Sonic by one sticky paw and leading him along gently, Tails edged towards the margin of the jungle, looking for any source of help, a friend, or even a path to somewhere familiar. He hadn't gone very far when he heard the grunting.

It sounded awful, like some huge ill-mannered beast yelling for its dinner. More urgently, it has to be said, the _Stomp-stomp-stomp_ which was coming nearer sounded even more worrying. Tails tried to drag Sonic into the undergrowth at the jungle's edge to hide and so avoid whatever was coming.

The enormous monster lumbered into sight. Tails had never seen anything like it in his life. It looked like a cross between a twenty-metre tall pig and one of the nastiest dinosaurs he had ever seen on the TV or in his many illustrated books. Tails wondered, for one terrifying moment, if it wasn't that Pinhead pig-thing expanded to enormous size by the exploding Dement Configuration, but it didn't have hundreds of spikes stuck in it, and it didn't look terribly bright. Thankfully, it also showed no apparent talent for causing mindless, random explosions all over the place.

Looking up at the enormous brute, Tails saw hills far in the distance and a smoking volcano belching out streams of molten lava. _Where on Mobius am I?_ He wondered. Is this the Hill Top Zone? It's certainly changed if it is!

"Gurgle gurgle! Dino!" Sonic said loudly. He wriggled out from of the fox's grasp and jumped up and down before Tails could grab him and pull him down. Very slowly, the dinosaur-pig's vast head turned to look down at the vanishing blue creature. It looked edible. The creature lumbered forward, demolishing some trees in its path.

"We've got to get away," Tails yelped to Sonic. The hedgehog burbled happily and refused to budge. Tails grabbed him by the paws and strained with all his might.

"Hee hee! Funny game," sniggered the hedgehog, resisting with all his might. Since Sonic is bigger, older and ultimately stronger than Tails, the poor fox didn't have much of a chance. He just went red-faced trying to pull Sonic to safety while the hedgehog dug in with his sneakered heels. The monstrous pigosaurus lumbered even closer, grunting eagerly as it sniffed out its prey.

* * *

Tails stood up straight to try and defend his buddy, or just to lure the dinosaur-pig away from him, when a human-looking Mobian stumbled into view to his right. At first, Tails thought it was one of Robotnik's droids, because it was clad head to toe in metal. Then he realised it was Sir Norbert.

"Help! I am in need of a brave paladin to save me!" he cried. "And my poor liege lord buddy, made helpless by foul sorcery!" It was tacky, but it was what he'd seen them say in really naff videos – and it worked.

"Aha!" the squirrel man cried happily. "A Big Scene. At last!" He drew his sword from his scabbard. "Fresh rashers for breakfast coming up, Gentle Fox!" He raced towards the pig. Tails was deeply glad that the idiot had a clear suicidal urge.

"Drizzle!" came a cry from the knight. "Bring the enchanted might of the Ebon Staff! This thing is forty hit dice at least!"

Suddenly, an enormous entourage burst the jungle all around Tails. There were the robots of the film crew, the other actors – and a loud gaggle of angry-looking rats in hot pursuit. It was mayhem!

"You come back here and finish that action movie." Capone snarled to the directing robot. "Or else you're scrap, you metal geek."

"Our orders were to come back to the set of _Jurassic Pork_," the robot pleaded. "I am only obeying orders!"

Tails tried to get out of the way of the advancing hordes when a streak of fire from the Ebon Staff of Peaminster flew by, a metre above his hastily cowering head, heading in the general direction of the gigantic pig. A swarm of angry green, red, blue, yellow and grey parrots rose from the treetops. One of them aimed an accurate missile at Drizzle in retaliation.

"My pointy hat! It's been… well, absolutely ruined!" moaned the donkey wizard. "How's that load of crap going to make me look in the movie?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," the director said. "We'll just airbrush it out with our video image transforming programs on the computer. It's very sophisticated these days, you know."

"Oh, well that's all right then," said the wizard happily. "Okay, get the camera's on me!" The camera crew turned around obediently. The donkey man crouched slightly and did his best to look fierce, rather than the skinny wimp he actually was.

"Eat boiling magical death, you overgrown baconburger!" he screamed and launched another stream of fire from the staff. His aim wasn't any more accurate than the first time around.

The dinosaur-pig was no more than fifty metres away, and grunting very loudly indeed. It licked its lips as it looked down at the conveniently bite-sized snacks ahead of it and stomped ever onwards. Tails squeaked.

"Gimme that, you useless dweeb-brain," snarled Capone, leaping on the wizard and wrestling the staff away from him as half a dozen other rats held him down. "We should never have let you go anyway!" He fiddled with the staff. "Hmmm. There's a setting button here. Smoke Puff, Singe… that's no good. Fire Stream… Sounds promising. Aha! Inferno. Now that sounds about right." He depressed the button, pointed the staff at the gigantic porker and released the button again to fire the staff. Ever last drop of gas in it went into the charge. A huge stream of fire sped from it and engulfed everything in front of him. Fortunately, Tails was standing to one side.

* * *

When the smoke cleared, what was left on the ground was a baconburger even bigger than anything even Sonic with his humongous appetite, had imagined in his wildest dreams. Admittedly, it was a bit burnt on the outside, but then you can't have everything. Tails stood and gawped. The rats cheered crazily. The directing robot looked very sad-faced and clanked up to Capone.

"Now, put that in your movie," Capone said, preening himself. "Hey, _Chloe_, you're not doing your-fawning-at-my-feet stuff!" Get your sweet butt into gear, baby!" The skimpy dressed green avian with the feathered neck scarf, sighed loudly, and flung herself into her adoring routine, battling her eyelashes up at him with the force of a small gale.

"Err, well, luvvie," the robot began.

"Call me that again and I'll melt you down right now, ya geek." Capone snarled, pointing the staff at the robot. Tails, in the line of fire behind him, quickly ducked.

"Sorry, lu– err, Your Majesty," the robot corrected itself hurriedly. "It's just that we need another take…"

"Another take?" Capone said incredulously. He advanced on the robot.

"I'm afraid the film crew didn't have their cameras loaded," the robot said, staring down at its metal feet. "But if you just –"

"How can we do another take, you metal moron?" Capone screamed, jumping up and down from sheer frustration. _Chloe_ rolled her eyes behind his back. "Old Pork Face here is not going to get up and walk around for another shot, is he? It'll take more than a touch of make-up to make him camera-compatible, right?"

"Ah," the robot stuttered. "Weeeellll, not exactly. But there are _others_," it continued hopefully.

"There are more twenty-metre-tall pigs around here?" the rat said disbelievingly. "Where do they all come from then?"

"They were specifically built," the robot said unhelpfully. "Something to do with gene splicing and DNA and theme parks and mad scientists and all that kind of thing. Don't ask me, I'm of a creative mind, not a scientist. Oh, look, here comes another Velociporker now!"

"This staff is out of juice!" Capone snarled after a hasty test on the single setting. "Top it up, NOW!"

As a robot minion dumped the contents of its oil sump into the staff, a hitherto silent actor piped up to say his piece.

"Thug wrestle giant pig. Hasta la vista, porky! I'll be back!" With that farewell, he charged off towards the second dino-pig which had just lumbered into view.

Tails had had enough. Sonic seemed to have quietened down a little, and was placidly coochie-cooing to himself. Leading him away from the madness all around him, he began the long trek back to the Green Hill Zone.

Now, he was telling himself, I _think_ I know where I am…

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

* * *

I edited out the 'Warps of Confusion' segment and replaced it with the Special Zone, namely because the former was never a favourite element of the AOSTH show and it was never really explained that much, so I picked its superior and more interesting counterpart instead.

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	18. Let Me Burrow Your Mind For A Minute

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

_

* * *

  
_

**CHAPTER 18: Let Me Burrow Your Mind For A Minute **

**Green Hill Zone / South Island / 22: 40 PM**

As the day drew to a close, an exhausted Tails finally dragged himself back to the Green Hill Zone on the last leg of his tiresome journey to get help. Sonic had shown an infantile and thoroughly annoying dislike for being led along by the hand and had often insisted on stopping and refusing to budge whilst he sniffed some flowers or something equally un-Sonic like. Tail's sleep cycles were all messed up, what with being awake all the previous day and sleeping most of this current day away, and he was getting very tired and very short-tempered. His mood wasn't improved when, as he was tugging the recalcitrant hedgehog along an overgrown path, a small coconut hit him on the back of the head.

"Tee hee," sniggered a monkey from overhead as it scampered back into its tree. Tails let go of Sonic's hand, raced up the tree and aimed a violent kick at the monkey's head, which it only just avoided. With a howl of fright, it leapt into the next tree. Tails jumped after it and was about to bash it into the middle of next week when he found himself surrounded by a flock of puzzled bats.

"Hey fox, chill out. He didn't hurt you, not on purpose anyway," the bat said, swinging upside down from a branch. "It was only his curve ball, man."

After groaning inwardly, Tails realised that the bat was right and he cooled down a little, it didn't hurt at all now anyway, since it'd been a very small coconut anyways. "I'm sorry, I've, _we've_, just had a really long and bad day."

"Been on the wrong end of a shut-out, yeah?" Bummer, man. Happens to the best of us," the bat said amiably. "But you know what they say…"

"What do they say?" Tails was too tired to think of a smarter reply.

"Like the coach always says, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings"," the bat the bat repeated happily.

"What does that mean?" Tails said irritably.

"Darned if I know. Coach always was a dweeb," the bat sniggered. "Not too many fat ladies in these trees, bub. Don't see too many playing ball, either."

"By the way… Your blue friend is behaving rather strangely," another of the bats observed. "I don't know what he's doing trying to get that rock into his mouth. Is he crazy or something? Man, you wouldn't want him fielding at first base in the Mobius Series."

"Sort of crazy," Tails said sadly. "His brain's been addled by the evil Dr Robotnik. With an 'orrible heinous machine!"

The bats hissed. They weren't very good at hissing, since their vocal chords really weren't designed for it, but they tried their best and if what came out was more like a volley of irate squeaks, well, that wasn't their fault. Tails clambered down the tree to stop Sonic losing all his teeth on his improvised snack.

"Hey man, maybe Mickey can help you," one of the bats said, swooping down from the tree. "He's the only guy round these parts that knows about machines. I'll find him for you. Be back before you call 'Strike Three!'!" With that, it flew off as Tails prised the rock away from Sonic. Within ten minutes, a concerned-looking monkey came puffing up in the distance.

Panting heavily, Mickey strolled up to Tails and Sonic. "Phew," he said wiping his brow, "a bit of the old PT really kills me, me old china. It's not healthy, not good for the old ticker. Righty-ho, what's wrong with old blue bristles then?"

Tails babbled out the whole story and showed Mickey the ruins of the Demented Configuration which he'd thoughtfully picked up and bought with him.

"Well then, Tails, me old cardboard box, I'd better give it the once-over, for luvva duck," the monkey said, turning the strange device over and over in his paws. "Better bring him with you, bless his little cotton socks. Let's see if I can figure out what's been done and whether we can reverse the process."

They slumped off to Mickey's house once more, and Tails, exhausted as he was, promptly fell asleep, leaving a puzzled monkey tinkering with his new toy.

* * *

**Mickey's House / Green Hill Zone / South Island / 02: 10 AM**

Tails woke with a start as the rosy-fingered Dawn crept into Mickey's house.

"Hell, Dawn," Mickey said casually. "Like the nail polish, darling. Thanks for bringing my order over." He grabbed the burger boxes and waved the girl monkey goodbye as she loped off outside.

"She's just started as a delivery person at the pizza and burger store in the Green Grove Village. You know the one in the southern reaches of this here Green Hill Zone? Really good early-morning service, couldn't ask for better," the monkey said happily. He grabbed a triple cheeseburger from his box and sunk his teeth into it. "Yum, yum…"

Tails rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his paws and looked around. Whatever Mickey had been doing, he'd certainly been busy. The contents of the Demented Configuration were laid out everywhere on the floor, connected by newly soldiered wires and lengths of tubing. From this rather weird-looking spread, a couple of what looked suspiciously like metal colanders had been mounted onto the wall and were connected to the entire assembly by hastily soldiered copper wiring. It didn't exactly look the work of a brilliant professional craftsman. Meanwhile, Sonic was dozing peacefully in a corner, well out of harm's way. He had one thumb jammed firmly in his mouth, making in his mouth, making him look rather… sweet?

"Hungry, chum?" Mickey asked cheerily. "Tuck into something." He lobbed a box to the eager fox.

"This is very generous of you, Mickey," Tails said between huge mouthfuls of cheeseburger.

"Think nothing of it. I'm a kindly soul," the monkey said airily. "Anyway, it's all gone on Sonic's tab."

"So what did you find out about the box?" the fox said suspiciously. He didn't have too much confidence in the mess of wiring he could see all around them.

"Well, now, it's very interesting," the monkey said, opening a tattered book with one of his greasy paws while reaching for another burger with the other. "It's a machine that transforms mental states, don't you know."

"I sort of guessed that," Tails said. "It was fairly obvious, when you consider what happened to him." He pointed rather guiltily to Sonic.

"Yeah, I know. Real naff up or what? He was a blooming pest until he went to sleep. He wanted to play with everything," Mickey said with a frown. "Anyway, I think I can do something about it. The process can be reversed," he said with just enough of a pause to give Tails a sinking feeling in his newly burger-filled stomach.

"It can. Is it difficult?"

"Not really," the monkey said with a lack of conviction. "I've been reading some vital technical manuals on the subject and I'm pretty sure I know what to do."

"Oh?" said Tails, waiting for more information.

"Yeah. One book on electrical circuits and all that kind of thing. Just to get the details of the machine right. I know the wiring looks a little dicky, but it'll work handsome, just trust me."

"What was the other one?" said Tails.

"One of Robotnik's own: _Teach Yourself Brain Control in Ten Easy Lessons_. He's got the Mobius Prize for Advanced Eggsperimental Psychology for it, would you blooming believe it?"

"Hmm, Tails said, getting even further unsure about all this. "Well, what eggsactly – I mean exactly – are you going to do?" He pointed at the colanders. "What are they for?"

* * *

The monkey was quiet for a minute. "Have you ever heard of electrical mind transference?" he said at last.

"I don't think so," Tails said slowly. "Is it painful…?"

Mickey looked relieved. "No, it's absolutely not painful at all. Not at all. Right, ell that's settled then," he said hurriedly. "If you'd just like to just park yourself over there, and put the brain transducer on your bonce, we can get this show on the road."

"Wait a minute!" Tails said equally hurriedly. "Exactly what are you going to o?"

"Well, it's like this. Robotnik's book has some very interesting things on mind transference. Eggschanging – I mean exchanging; strewth, but that's catching! – the minds of two blokes around.

"Well, that's no good!" Then I'd be a drooling dope like Sonic! Sorry, buddy," Tails said to his snoozing friend.

"No, no, that's not the idea. What I'm going to do is link your minds together. Then I'll be able to put your sensible mind into old Sonic. It'll stop him being a drooling loony," the monkey said uncharitably.

"But won't that just mean he'd end up with a mind like mine?"

"No, it'll help him recover his own mind. Look, just trust me; it's a lot easier to do a one-way transfer than an exchange, right? So this will be a piece of cake, me old mucker."

"Have you ever done anything like this before?" Tails fretted.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's far too dange- I mean, I've never had any call to, now have I?" Mickey replied reasonably. "Just give us a hand to carry Sonic over to one of the brain transducers, would you, then all I have to do is burrow your mind for a minute or two. What could be simpler?"

_I guess I don't have much of a choice_, Tails thought sadly, _no matter how crazy this guy is_. So after helping Mickey with the still-sleeping hedgehog, he just sat down against the wall and pulled the remaining colander over his head.

"Now, I want to think really smart thoughts. It's his sense and logic that we need to get back," Mickey said determinedly; he had obviously better start laying the flattery on with a trowel. "Which should be a pushover, really, since there wasn't too much of that to begin with. You're the smart one, Tails, I know you can do it!"

The fox groaned and tried to think about Really Clever Stuff. For a brief, wonderful second he thought that he could get out of this by getting Rotor, who was definitely the smartest guy around, to take his place. Then he remembered that he and the others were trapped in Castle Robotnik, and may or may not have been turned into fully-fledged monsters by now. He shivered and tried to stay calm as the monkey began to flick switches and the hum of electricity filled the room.

"It'll all be over very soon," said Mickey grimly.

Just before he fell unconscious, I occurred to Tails that if Mickey had got the polarity for the one-way transfer wrong then he'd end up as demented as Sonic! Then his brain went fuzzy all over, just like a jelly-tot after it'd been in your pocket for a few weeks. Just like a…

* * *

Tails awoke to find a very concerned hedgehog shaking him by the shoulders.

"Are you all right, little dude? Oh, that dastardly swine Robotnik!" Sonic lamented. "Please say you're okay, my foxy pal!"

Tails tried to speak, but he only managed to croak a bit. His throat was very dry and he had to cough to clear it. Then he sneezed loudly and shook a bit. Mickey gave him a reinforced paper beaker of cola, which he gulped down thirstily.

"Coochie-coo," said Tails babyishly.

"Mickey, you useless dweeb! You must have exchanged mind states," Sonic said furiously. "You've left him a helpless lunatic!"

"I know. Fun isn't it?" sniggered Tails. Sonic didn't know whether to be overjoyed or to give Tails a clout around the ear for winding him up so successfully.

"Sorry, Mickey, you are one radically smart dude and a total apology is in order," Sonic beamed. He surveyed the burned-out wreckage of the Dement Configuration. "Pity about that, though."

"Yeah, well, it was a bit on the improvised side," the monkey said. "Never mind. It'll all come out in the wash, that's what my old ma used to say."

"It might have come in useful," Sonic pondered thoughtfully.

"How so?" Mickey asked.

"Just think what we could've done with Robotnik on the receiving end and a banana at the other," Sonic chuckled.

"Nah! Waste of a good banana," Mickey said as he tucked into his own. He had just finished it, and unpeeled another, when a bat flew into his hut through the open window and stuffed it into his open mouth.

"Hey man!" the monkey started to protest but the bat just gave him a wink, finished scoffing the fruit and gave him a grin.

"Howdy doody, Mickey," the bat chuckled. "I've just come back from the Castle Robotnik Stadium. Man, that is one weird playing field. Thought you guys could use a little inside info from the coach," the bat finished. "Got any more bananas?" Mickey looked regretful and peeled another one for his hungry visitor, who devoured it.

"Mmmm, that's better," it said happily. "Well, Mickey told me about your troubles. And I found a way into the locker room, guys. The big tower right in the middle. Easier than pitching an arm ball. Gather round for a team-talk. Here's how you do it…"

* * *

**The Great Tower / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 00: 08 AM**

Robotnik was beside himself. Well, no, of course he wasn't really. No one can actually be beside themselves or else they'd be two of them, but you know what we mean. He was annoyed. Very.

"The Dement Configuration malfunctioned! It should never have been able to allow them to escape the Special Zone's erratic Warps!" he yelled. "Find the designer and have it melted down for scrap!"

"Err, Master," Eggor began, but Robotnik interrupted him at once.

"Now! NOW! I want it eggspunged!"

"I'm afraid you designed it yourself, Master," Eggor said unhappily. There was a moment's silence while Robotnik digested the information, which was more than he'd been able to do with his breakfast eggs. He had a stomach upset from stress. His fat-fingered hands were shaking with the strain.

"Listen, you worthless piece of metallic Snively garbage, and listen carefully. In future, if anything like this ever happens again, just find a culprit and melt it down for scrap anyway, right?" Robotnik snarled darkly. "Don't tell me anything about eggstenuating circumstances; I don't want to hear it. Ha, ha, ha!"

Eggor allowed himself the tiniest ghost of a smirk. That irritating Spielbot S just might be a plausible culprit if he rigged things right.

"But at least the hedgehog had his puny brain neutralised," the robot observed. Robotnik looked slightly cheered up by the thought, but only a little. And not for long.

"The Warps of the Special Zone are unpredictable. The process might have been reversed when he entered it," Robotnik eggsclaimed. "We cannot eggsclude the possibility. Just like I cannot eggsclude the possibility that material exchanges have been made between this world and _that_ one…"

Eggor had already anticipated that. "The computer says there is only a one-point-seven per cent chance of that happening, Master," he said encouragingly.

Robotnik did seem to be relieved, but then he scowled anyway. "We can take no chances now. We must complete the Master Eggsperiment and send out creation out to – ha ha ha! – destroy that miserable rodent, whether he has his pitifully small brain or not. Mobius is now ready for greatest creation. I will unleash – _Frankensonic!_"

Eggor glowed with pleasure. But he had a rival to dispose of first…

"Master, I must check all the security points around the castle. Just in case the hedgehog and his fox friend return yet again. I shall double guard patrols and treble-check the alarm systems. It shall take no more than half an hour."

Very good, _Eggor_," Robotnik smirked. Now that he'd made his decision, he seemed less eggsplosive, but rather more eggsuberant in a nasty, sadistic, moustache-twirling, wobbly kind of way. He took an egg from the pocket of his white coat and cracked it into his hand, slurping up the thick yolk and runny white. Slobbering eggspressively, he stumbled off for the elevator to the Great Tower, leaving a tiny trail of droplets of egg white dribbling onto the floor as he went.

Eggor keyed in some cursory orders to the guards and then got down to the real work at hand. If anything went wrong this time around, there would be a very plausible culprit indeed. Leaning back after his instructions, he took off his metal helmet and allowed his twisted human face a broad smile, as he shut down the auxiliary computer systems, and rubbed his metal covered hands with glee.

Now, he thought, first we shall need a replacement assistant director…

Far away, in the Metropolis sector of Robotropolis, Attenbot D took the call. It would be the greatest outdoors documentary of his career.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

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As the end of this story draws near I have recently decided to sketch out the Castle Robotnik quartet [the Wizard, Knight, Thief and Barbarian] and will be providing a link to them [as well as to Psycho Bunnie and Mummified Sally] on my FF profile page, in the final chapter, seeing as web links don't seem to work within the story format [for some reason].

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	19. Return Of The PsychoBunny

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

_

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**CHAPTER 19: Return Of The PsychoBunny **

**Castle Robotnik Outskirts / South Island / 02: 40 AM**

Sonic and Tails hovered in the air above Castle Robotnik. The fox's twin tails whirled in a blur, making him look like the best helicopter you'd ever seen. Meanwhile, Sonic had propelled himself a lot with a really radically supreme run, leap and spin. To be honest, though, he was not known for his ability to hang in mid-air without some pretty serious help, so right at this moment he was being assisted by a flock of Mickey's bat friends who were delicately gripping his spines and flapping their greyish blue leathery wings to stay aloft.

"There, you see?" one of the bats was indicating some distant feature. "Halfway up. Those, my little pitches, are ventilation shafts. It's the one way into the stadium that doesn't involve having to past those outfield guards at the doors." It gnawed at a banana and flung the skin through the air, almost hitting the hovering Tails. The fox held out his paws and grabbed it without thinking as it flew towards him.

Looking down, Sonic and Tails could see that several squads of vicious Cluckers and Bomb Bots had both been positioned to ring the Great Tower at ground level. Since they were among the most dangerous of Robotnik's Badniks, it had to be an easier option to enter the castle via a handy ventilation duct than to take them all on.

"Maximum thanks, little sport-obsessed bat-type dudes. This is radically helpful," Sonic smiled happily. "Any time we can, like, return the favour just let me know. But now, I think my bodacious buddy and I are going to go and have a smashing time. Catch you later!"

* * *

The hedgehog was released from the bat's grip and shot down towards the metal grille covering the ventilation shafts. As he fell, he twisted into a ball of pure super-spinning superhero. He smashed his way through it barely touching the sides, leaving it hanging off its metal hinges, flapping uselessly against the stone wall of the windowless tower. Tails flew right in after him.

"We want to head upwards," Sonic growled. "That mad-man Robotnik is going to be at the top of the tower, of course. And I bet a dozen chilli dogs that the others have front row seats for whatever monstrosity he has up there as well."

There was one small with that plan. Trying to ascend the ducts, they very nearly ran slap bang into sizzling beams of electricity criss-crossing them. Helpful signs reading 'DANGER: TEN TRILLION MEGAVOLTS!' were hardly necessary to inform them of the hazard. Racing around the maze of tunnels, they soon found that every duct leading upwards had the same electrical barrier completely blocking it. It was plain someone had thought of such of a manoeuvre.

"No way up," Tails lamented.. "Well, it's not surprising really. Anyone would expect him to block out such an obvious pathway for us to bypass his guards and alarms. Darn that heinous ratfink! We'll have to find a way into the middle floor of the tower and hope we can find an elevator or some stairs going up. There must be some way upwards. I mean, Fatty Robotnik's not going to want to be dropped in by Egg-o-Matic every time he wants to tinker with his experiments, is he?"

"Good call, little guy. Just one thing: let's not waste time chatting when there's Badniks to be a-stomping!" Sonic said impatiently.

Racing around again within the labyrinth of ducts, they soon found large metal grilles which led into the rooms of the middle floor. And they all looked very similar;: laboratory rooms which were hardly lit at all. The red glow of winking instrument panels and computer consoles flickered eerily in the darkness, but there was no sign of anything which might get in their way.

"There doesn't seem to be any difference between the different exit points, Sonic," Tails said helpfully. "Can't hear much either, apart from the odd click or bleep here and there. There doesn't seem to be any Badniks clanking about, that's one good thing. Which one do you think we should-"

"The nearest one," Sonic laughed as he spun full-pelt into the grille ahead of him and sent it flying into the room with a loud clatter.

"We could have just unscrewed and dismantled it; it would have been quieter," Tails protested, but he knew Sonic too well to argue the point. When the bodacious hedgehog gets whizzing, the finer points of subtlety and the need for stealth are totally lost on him.

Sonic flicked on a light switch he had found by feeling his way along the walls. The room just seemed to be full of machinery, and there was nothing to show what the peculiar devices did. That was cool: after his exploits in the boiler room, Sonic wasn't in any hurry to find out. He wanted to get out and get upwards, free Sally and everyone else, and then stomp on Robotnik and his latest heinous scheme. He let Tails open the door rather than smash it down, much as he eagerly wanted to. _I guess this is called using your noggin'. Ha-ha_, Sonic figured.

* * *

Outside the room, all appeared quiet. The two heroes stepped carefully into the passageway beyond. A low buzzing drone, sounding faint in the distance, began to get louder.

Sonic turned to his foxy pal. "Just don't say 'Can you hear something?', little buddy, because I can most assuredly can," he warned. "Could be Buzzers, could be worse. Let's get moving before they get here."

Looking around for elevators or staircases as they headed along the passage, and finding none, the two of them were very aware that the droning sound was getting louder and louder. And _louder_. And **LOUDER**.

"We're going to have to do some Badnik-smashing after all," Sonic smirked. "What a shame!"

"Oh dear, how sad, never mind!" Tails grinned back.

Sonic began to work himself up into a spin. He expected Buzzers, or some kind of new Badnik. He wasn't expecting a masked rabbit with a chainsaw.

"What the…" Sonic blurted out in surprise when the familiar shape rounded the next corner, striding confidently towards them in this suspiciously sparse torch-lit passageway. "Hey you, Bugs Brainless, you bought it in that pit. Slice-and-dice time for psycho bunnies! We saw it ourselves!"

"Ah," the female rabbit snarled dismissively. "Don't ya know that Jasebelle _never_ dies? It's always Friday and there is always a sequel, dreadhog. Except for you and ya little pup!" With that, she rushed forward to attack, a familiar chainsaw at the ready. Sonic backflipped in order to duck the attack, and in the process he clumsily smacked himself into the wall behind him. He was out for the count.

Tails was right in the line of fire. Trying to dodge aside, he could see the heinous Bunnie look-alike veering right for him, swinging the chainsaw in a wide arc, filling the dimly lit passage. Those of a nervous disposition, and all those for whom the sight of a dismembered sidekick might be distressing, are advised not to watch at this point. Sorry, people, but I looked like the cute little fellow was on a one-way trip to Foxslice City.

Tails took a step to the left, and the chainsaw-wielding bunny form hell did the same. Tails jumped back to the right, but the rabbit matched his movements perfectly. There was no escape.

_Crikey!_ thought Tails desperately, _I'm only moments away from kissing my arms and legs goodbye and I appear to be dancing The Timewarp with a power-tool-packing carrot cruncher._ _Is this really the end of little old me? Is there… Hey! Hold up a minute; what's this in my pocket?_

"Aha!" he cried aloud, and with that Tails played his master stroke. With a smooth action perfected over many happy evenings tossing around his favourite yellow Frisbee, he flung the banana skin he'd inadvertently stuck in his pocket when the bat had heaved it his way. It landed right the advancing Jasebelle's feet.

The rabbit went head over heels and her chainsaw flew across the floor, bouncing and whining as it chewed its way through carpet and lino tiles. It went right on bouncing harmlessly along the passage and came to a rest, stalling against the wall. A revived Sonic then spun down and biffed the rabbit hard on the back of her ol' head. Jasebelle crumpled up into a heap on the floor and lay still.

"Yikes! That was a close one. We'd better get moving before she wakes up," Tails said anxiously.

Clanking sounds came from the same direction which Jasebelle had appeared from. Sonic readied himself for an instant change of gear all the way up to Attack Mode.

"Look, if we leave her here she might not raise an alarm. She may have tripped up and had an accident, for all a dumb bunch of robots will know," Tails pleaded. "I mean, look at that chainsaw; talk about dangerous; I bet she's always doing herself a mischief with it. We don't want to waste more energy here. They'll be enough time for smashing once we get to the top, remember?"

"Why do you always spoil my fun?" Sonic grumbled, but he knew Tails was right. "Okay dude, you're talking sense…"

Tails beamed.

"Just this once," Sonic finished. Tails stuck his tongue out at him. "Let's move on out. We've still got a long ways to go!"

* * *

They raced along the corridor, the lighting consisting of fewer torches and more futuristic-looking light bulbs and the like. But they screeched to a halt as they door marked ''. Unfortunately, they were in such a hurry that they clean failed to notice the crucial full stop.

"In here!" Tails said, pushing the door open and jumping in. Sonic leapt into the darkness within and shut the door behind him to keep the oncoming robots at bay. It was very dark in the elevator.

_Now, where are those flipping buttons_, Sonic thought, stretching his hands and feeling around the metal walls. He pressed the first one he found. The lights came on at once.

There was a helpful sign hanging on one wall of the room. It read 'PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY'. Hanging up on pegs on the wall were white lab coats, each bearing a badge with the name 'Dr Ernest Levator, Assistant to Professor Robotnik' sewn on to them.

"Oh, come on, Sonic. It was an easy mistake to make," Tails said apologetically. Robots were clanking down the passage outside. It clearly wasn't safe to leave just yet, not without raising the alarm anyway, and that was what they were really worried about.

"What is this place?" Sonic asked, prodding at the metal cages and electrical machinery which littered the room. He prodded one thing too many, as usual.

There was a loud ringing sound of metal hitting the hard laboratory floor. At once, the door behind them clicked and shut and electronically locked itself. One of the computer screens ahead leaped into life, bearing the message 'SPECIMEN FREED IN PDL! SECURITY RESPONSE ACTIVATION!' At the same moment, a loud _Woo-wooing_ sound, a wailing electronic alarm, started to scream its baleful tone throughout the room.

"Oh, Sonic, what have you done?" Tails groaned as he held his hands over his ears. Looking at the hedgehog, he suddenly saw what had emerged from the cage that Sonic had inadvertently opened. His jaw dropped. Sonic saw the look on his face and whirled round.

* * *

It was a dark green spider. Well, okay, yes it was, but my, what a spider! It was two metres wide and it had legs longer than the fashion models on the pop-video channels, and far more hairy to boot. Glowing red eyes the colour of coke cola cans glared at the intruders. It slowly opened its jaws to reveal huge ripping teeth and poisonous drool dripped form its twitching mouth, as if to say 'Have a look at these, you schmucks; big, aren't they?" This was one spider no one was going to flush down the plug-hole. It raised itself up on four of its massive legs and began to move towards Sonic and Tails.

"Eek! Poison! It's a mutant!" Tails yelped. As the monstrosity drew closer, he could see that it wasn't a normal two-metre mutant spider either [if you know what we mean]. It seemed to have been stitched together from various bits of different gigantic, two-metre mutant spiders. Its legs were each a different colour to the rest of its body, going from green to purple to red to blue and so on forth… And its head was far too large for its bulbous body. It was very scary and smelled extremely unpleasant.

Sonic and Tails ran around in panic, trying to keep long work benches and racks of cages between them and the lumbering spider. It spat a gob of acid poison at them which they managed to duck, but when the vicious gunge hit the far wall it peeled off the paint and left a sizzling brown stain that totally clashed with the rest of the decor.

"Oh, gross," Tails groaned. "Robotnik's breeding mutant and monsters! And I just bet it's not to use them in the decorating business as handy mobile paint strippers."

"Of course he is," Sonic growled. "Prototype Development Laboratory, right? A prototype for his monsters. What he wants to turn us into. This is totally heinous! And look, it's even in his wretched movie!"

Tails dared to look up as another gobbet of super spider spit sped just over his head. The ever-present movie cameras were mounted at the top of the walls, whirring around to track their every move. Just then the laboratory doors smashed open, and metal clanking came from outside as something shiny and metallic rushed in. They were trapped, caught between mutants and Badniks!

* * *

**The Great Tower / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 03: 30 AM**

Robotnik stared in disbelief at the camera monitors as the Bomb Bot exploded in the centre of the Prototype Development Laboratory and blew the mutant spider to pieces. It also managed to destroy a vast amount of valuable equipment and most of the Crawlers the crazed doctor had sent in to off Sonic and Tails. This was supposed to a grand penultimate scene, not a penultimate frizzle of a scene! _At least I correctly moved that mad-hatter of a 'doctor' to a better location before setting this movie up_, he thought quickly, but fresh red-hot anger soon overturned any stable and intelligent thought that may have come next.

So wobbling with pent-up volcanic fury, he could do nothing but watch the hated hedgehog and his annoying twin-tailed freak of a friend skip over the wreckage and leave the disaster zone with nothing so much as a scratch. When they hit the corridor outside, he saw a close-up of Sonic's smirking face as he bounced up at the cameras tracking him, and then the monitor screens went blank. Every monitoring camera was swiftly destroyed by what remnants of sound they'd heard beforehand. In laments terms, a BIG _booming_ sound.

"Eggor? What has happened? This is ineggsplicable! Find out who is responsible for this! And what the hell knocked Level 4 out?"

Smirking just out of sight of his master, 'Eggor' rattled one metal hand on the keyboard as he feigned some fast computer analysing. "Ah, I think I have found the problem, Master," he said smoothly after a few moments of apparent investigation.

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"Well? What is it? No eggscuses!" the madman growled, his glasses-obscured eyes gleaming [probably].

"Apparently, Master, Spielbot made the move '_Attack of the Killer Mutant Spiders from the Plant Zorg'_ in the laboratory a year or so ago."

"Yes, and?" Robotnik said suspiciously, trying to cast his mind back over the last year or two that the castle had been standing [unbeknown to those who hadn't ventured into the Scrap Brain Zone since its fall] and of course, used for certain experiments or two… The crazed buffoon couldn't remember such a time, but he let his metal-clad nephew ramble on so forth anyway.

"The Bombot was a security device planted to make sure the spider didn't escape in the original movie. It had not been correctly re-programmed since that film was made. And it also looks like it held a second incendiary mechanism, resulting in booming sound and the destruction of the monitor feeds from Level 4."

"Then this is your fault! You are responsible for security, _Snively_!" Robotnik screamed with his best 'you are about to hit melt-down' eggspression on his face, whether he was his last blood relative or not.

"Umm, no, I hate to contradict you, Master, but that is not so. I wasn't even here when the film was made. I was forbidden to walk these premises I so correctly recall in fact…" Eggor said calmly, trying his hardest not to let resentment tarnish his performance on the last part. Robotnik said nothing, so he continued. "There was also a specific priority over-ride in my instructions from yourself, master, not to meddle with any of the security in this laboratory." He offered him a handy printout from the computer to prove his point. Robotnik studied it and calmed down a little.

"Very well. You are eggsonerated, Eggor. So who _was_ responsible for the security there?"

"Spielbot S, master. Because of the film-making. He was given overall control of all aspects of the scene, including security.

"Then have him found and melted down for scrap!" Robotnik screamed. "Ha, ha, ha!"

Those were the words that Eggor had wanted to hear for days, and in the end they had proved so simple to claim. Who'd have thought that a supposed genius like Robotnik would actually fall for a faked printout and series of events that'd never occurred? It looks like my uncle could be losing his marbles sooner than I ever imagined. But that wasn't important now.

What was important was that now the _Castle Robotnik_ movie would be his, all his, and he would get the true star's role he deserved. His metal chest swelled with pride, and his inner grin widened to grotesque levels.

* * *

"I don't know how we got out of that one," Tails chuckled. They'd gone up a bunch of metal steps to a floor labelled 'Level 5', and were now searching for an elevator to the tower's top and to Robotnik's master laboratory within.

"Malfunctioning Badnik, I expect," Sonic said. "Robotnik does make mistakes, you know. And hey, here comes some more of them!" The clanking of robots was clearly audible in the distance. "Let's get bouncing!"

"Wait," Tails sighed. "We agreed that we needed to conserve our energies for Robotnik himself, right?" He pulled Sonic into a small clean-up room with a glass panel set in the door, and with their noses pressed against the window they waited to see what nasties were heading their way now.

The robots looked very sinister. There were modified Grabbers and even two multi-gun Cluckers, and a towering Slicer that looked very menacing indeed. They were black lacquered and looked to the whole world to see as if they were wearing black top hats and long frock coats with tails at the back [but not foxy tails, if you know what we mean]. The Cluckers had the words 'MELT-DOWN SQUAD' painted on their backs in old-fashioned joined-up letters. The sinister group continued past Sonic and Tails' hiding place and thankfully clanked off down the corner and into another corridor into the distance.

Tails and Sonic emerged slowly, peering carefully around the door until they were sure there were no more Badniks in the offing. As Sonic noticed one thing and wandered aimlessly off, Tails noticed another. Something was lying on the floor, so he bent down and picked it up. It was a glossy embossed card, which one of the robots must have dropped along the way.

"Hmmm. '_Dr Ivo Robotnik & Associates Funeral Directors._" What could it mean? And just where did Sonic go off to…?

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

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And so the endgame begins. And next time the duo reunites with a familiar face…?

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	20. Total MeltDown

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

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**CHAPTER 20: TOTAL MELT-DOWN **

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 03: 48 AM**

Spielbot S crossed from the Tower of Power after another interview, this time for the RBC; that's _Robotnik Broadcasting Corporation_, one of Robotnik's string of TV stations. It's strange; Robotnik owned masses of them, all pumping out entertainment for his robot minions [and the Mobians unfortunate enough to own a TV too] around Mobius around the clock. But every programme on every single one of them was rubbish. Sound familiar?

He was happy, because he'd been interviewed by a robot with a truly exceptional Grovelling Program installed into it and it had asked really dead-brain questions that he'd been able to answer while at the same time looking great and talking platitudes as usual. As he glided along happily, his attention was caught by a group of sinister black robots pouring out of the Great Tower, and they seemed to be heading toward him. Funny, he thought, I don't remember hiring them for the movie.

"Are you Spielbot, designation S?" snarled the leader of the group. It was an exceptionally large Slicer and it looked extremely nasty. Spielbot got a sinking feeling in his central circuit boards as he began to suspect something awful was just about to happen.

"Erm, no. He's still in the Tower of Power, in the hospitality room," he replied.

"Are you sure? You look an awful lot like the holographic image I have installed in my seek-and-destroy program," the slicer said in a deathly tone of voice. "Right down to the atrocious glasses."

Spielbot almost panicked but managed to keep an even voice. "That's because I'm his assistant and he likes his assistants to look like him, right down to these _atrocious_ glasses," he said, keeping his voice as flat as possible to sound plausible.

"Hmmm. Maybe I should melt you down anyway. Just in case," the Slicer said threateningly.

"Oh no, Dr Robotnik wouldn't like that at all. If you melt me down as well as Spielbot then his great movie won't get finished on time, and then Dr Robotnik won't be able to win the Mobius Prize for Film Production and Direction. Then he'll get eggstremely angry and he will blame you, and that wouldn't do well at all, would it? You'd have to melt yourself down."

The Slicer had one of those 'I'm not sure about how it has happened, but you've got off the hook' expressions on its face. "Very well," it growled and headed off to the Tower of Power with its strike team.

Spielbot hurried for the master laboratory as fast as his tracks could carry to find out what on Mobius was going on. How could Robotnik want him melted down for scrap when he had all but completed his master's magnum opus? He had to find out. There had to be some mistake somewhere.

* * *

"Sonic, where did you go?" Tails asked out loud, confused as to what could be so important that he'd wander off without saying-

"I'm over here, little bro, around the corner," the blue hedgehog's voice replied, around the other corner [from whence the 'Melt-Down Squad had originally ventured from].

The twin-tailed fox wandered around the corner and then abruptly stopped.

He and Sonic were in front of a giant circular door, which was mainly crimson with an 'X' silver design over its front. It was mesmerizing, for a reason the pair of them couldn't touch upon. It just looked so futuristic and _out there_, compared to the rest of the floors they'd seen. Hell, the rest of the castle even.

"So… What do you thinks' in there, Sonic?" Tails asked simply, still studying the architecture of the door in awe.

"I don't know, buddy. Do you want to check it out? Who knows, we might find some stuff on the monster creating process and how to reverse it," Sonic said evenly, a subtle curiosity apparent in his tone.

Tails sighed. He'd already messed up their direction so far, what could one more detour hurt? And if they went wrong again, at least it'd be Sonic's fault this time. He sniggered a little at the thought.

And so with the [loud] sound of a tide of water residing back to the sea, the circular door slid open and rotated clockwise, stopping at the top of the structure, leaving Sonic and Tails free to step inside into the unknown.

Light sprung from the darkness immediately from their presence. And moments later, loud gasps were uttered in the chamber within.

* * *

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 03: 55 AM**

Just as Eggor was about to leave the master laboratory for the Great Tower, Robotnik reappeared in the doorway.

"Eggor, one last thing," the white-coated lunatic growled. "Have – ha ha ha! – Spielbot's film crew melted down for scrap as well."

"What, master?" Eggor was staggered; this wasn't part of the plan at all. "But, master, then the movie will never be made!"

"I've changed my mind," Robotnik said. "We can't trust these robots. They may be spies or terrorists. Remember that dratted Bomb Bot. Spielbot's robots cannot be trusted! They must be eggspunged! Ha ha ha!"

"But it was just the instructions weren't reprogrammed correctly. It was a simple computer error," Eggor argued, his more-Snively predominant traits boiling to the surface.

"Don't you dare argue with me!" Robotnik yelled. "Have those robots melted down NOW – or else! No eggscuses! Issue the orders now, Eggor, then join me atop the tower." He stomped off.

Eggor was beside himself. Now he would never have his starring role in the movie! He knew, or he thought he knew, that his Master might change his mind later and then it would be too late if the film crew had already been eggsterminated. Unless, unless… he recalled the one film unit left to him!

He keyed in his last set of orders in double-quick time and left for the top of the Great Tower. Unfortunately, in his haste t join his master, he made the dreadful mistake of not shutting down the central computer access. Why are we pointing out this apparently insignificant detail? Just wait and see.

* * *

**???? / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 03: 48 AM**

Books. Most noticed in the public domain in both worlds [ours and Sonic's] as the chronicles of imagination, but which also bear witness to the many facets of the human conundrum in the form of diaries [or autobiographies and the like], as well as other things. What they are best for, in the minds of many, however, is for recording facts, be it or visual or textual form, and that my friends brings us to a well known practice known as _science_. And cor blimey was it noticeable in this room.

This spherical arced room with its silver polish-licked metallic walls, attached to every one of them being a library-like stack of bookcases, three to four layers high. The apparatus and technology was centred in straight aisles adjacent to the towers of books, looking quite alien, and not much 'out of date' but 'ahead of date'. For all the Bunsen Burners and test tubes one would expect, what lay sprawled out across the worktops design-wise looked far more complex, it was though they were from another decade ahead altogether!

And muddled in amongst the techno stuff was diagrams, printouts filled with mind-numbing equations and lingo, erratic inducible writing too. And artistic endeavours of the human [and Mobian] body structure, more scribbles of numbers, alien words, numbers…

Spherical holding chambers with glass-fitted panels stood like stone guardians at the end of the room, in the centre of which was the most stand out feature of the room. At least to Sonic and Tails, the rooms new residents, who by now were seriously considering whether they'd entered another world altogether. But I digress; the oddity was none other than a huge dark brown, wooden grandfather clock with multiple hands [at least 8] on its celestial-themed face.

It was obviously a scientific-focused designed one, but that still wasn't the most 'off' thing about it, and it took a few seconds of starring at it for the duo to figure out why that was. It was because none of its fitted hands [or pendulums] were moving! It was locked at a general fixed time of '07:14', whenever that had been.

In fact, the pair thought taking a mental step-back, this entire room looked as though it had been kept pristine clean till quite recently, and it was though _all_ of it was frozen in time too, for nothing was boiling away in the test tubes, nor was anything aflame, or any sizzling bolts of electricity flying about the room. Even the sand grains in the hourglasses were still.

But at the end of the room, on a table was the most predominant feature of this timeless room, the tiny supercomputer they'd [fairly recently] come to know only as-

"NICOLE!" Sonic and Tails exclaimed together, running to the far edge of the room to retrieve her.

"_Sonic. Tails. I am so glad to see the both of you once again. It has been nearly 48 hours to the exact millisecond, since I last saw you, or Sally and the rest of our group to be truthful,_" NICOLE spoke out, in her monotone computer-like voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess it has, but _where_ are our Sally and the others, _why_ are you here and where exactly is _here_," Sonic rambled quickly, clearly over-whelmed and just a bit irked with the room and the current standings of the last few days. And with that said, he and Tails quickly took a wooden seat each and listened intently to what NICOLE knew.

* * *

"_To answer your first question, Sonic. Sally, Bunnie and Antoine are currently at the top of the Great Tower-_"

"But what about R-" Sonic interrupted. Only to be ignored, and for NICOLE to continue.

"_-Where the probability of them being forced to witness the completion to Robotnik's 'Master Experiment' is around 97.9%. As for Rotor, you're already run into a duplicate of him in the castle I predict, seeing as 'Count Antoine' was his master. The real Rotor must be in one of the upper labs, or has been put back in with the others, having served his 'guinea pig' role._"

She paused, leaving Sonic and Tails to digest the information. _Rotor had been used as a lab rat and cloned? That heinous butler… How dare Robotnik toy with our friends like this!_ Sonic thought angrily. It'd been bad enough seeing those Chirps-like zombies…

"_As for why I am here. The being referring to himself as 'Eggor' was ordered by Dr Robotnik to bring me down here; he called this the 'LXP' room. Robotnik wanted this research all analysed, translated into an understandable form and utilized, which is why I'm here._"

She paused again, perhaps wondering where to begin on explaining the room and the discoveries she had or hadn't made about it.

Tails, however, broke the silence, voicing his jumbled thoughts out loud. Something was beginning to click in his memory. Something he had seen, many times, in and amongst the sprawled research notes in fact…

"LXP," he began. "I saw it countless times amongst all those papers. Just what does it mean?"

Now the chorus of silence doubled, and two pairs of curious eyes wandered NICOLE's way. This was certainly _new_, Sonic thought, she always had something to say on, well, everything.

"… _I do not know,_" NICOLE finally replied, in a tone in which Sonic and Tails could have sworn was a little more hurried than usual, but they decided to drop it, for now at least.

* * *

They waited for the supercomputer to finish her story, hoping it would shed some light on this newest line of Robotnik experiments. First the Badniks run on organic batteries, and now monsters…

"_As for this room, from the computer data mainframe here_ [it was on the very table they were sitting at, and had a stray of snake looking wires connected to the circuit mains in the wall], _from what Robotnik has decrypted of this so far, it looks like it was a main factor of his monster creating technology. However, the meaning of the project 'LXP' and thus the entirety of this room is still unknown to me or Robotnik. He's certainly interested in it though, he must be, in order to have I, an enemy, try and decipher it for him, no?_"

"Yeah," Sonic breathed; the spines on his back tingling with a shadowy unease. Tails wasn't too far behind him, although his curiosity at this web of mystique was certainly peaking now.

"Wait a sec, if this isn't the work of Robotnik... then _whose_ is it?" Tails asked, resting his head in the palms of his hands in canny thoughts, eying the room once again.

"_The work of Grimer Wormtongue, of course, didn't you read the plaque?_" the supercomputer [chuckled?] at them.

"What plaque-" Sonic said lamely. And spotted in within seconds. At the side of the entrance was a sign reading 'LXP LAB, PROF GRIMER WORMTONGUE'.

"Oh… That. I spotted that _ages_ ago," Sonic said childishly, rolling his eyes. NICOLE chuckled at the Mobians antics; it really was just as she'd been told. Tails rolled his eyes too, sighing at this moment where the grownup had become the child. Again.

"So where is Prof Grimer Wormtongue then, NICOLE? I don't see him anywhere… Or Mr Levator for that matter," Tails asked.

"_Grimer Wormtongue died over a decade ago, as a result of one of his experiments in this very room_" the supercomputer said bluntly.

"Say what?" Sonic shouted in surprise. Tails' eyes were as wide as saucers; this really was getting kinda creepy now. _In this very room…_ _And _j_ust how did it get in this fairly recent construction? _The fox pondered to himself.

"_As for E. Levator. The database has him down as in an 'Unknown Location' and his status 'Alive'._"

"Must be in one Robotnik's main labs in Robotropolis, whatcha think, little buddy?" Sonic voiced out loud, glancing to his foxy pal.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's the only thing that makes sense," Tails replied.

* * *

"So... NICOLE," Sonic began, wondering how to approach the nagging stray thought. "What does 'LXP' mean? We know that you know. It's written all over your… _computer-features?_" Tails facepalmed at the bad turn of pun.

"_I… do not… know,_" she stuttered, bracing herself for whatever the cool hedgehog threw at her. What she didn't expect was what he did next. So she improvised.

***ZORCH!***

"Woah! What was that for NICOLE?!" Sonic screamed. The electric jolt still continuing to toast some of his spines; they certainly weren't having the best of days of late.

"_That serves you right for touching my buttons, Sonic,_" she chimed, a smiley with a stuck-out tongue appearing on her green-panelled screen.

"Fine, fine," Sonic growled. "I guess it isn't important anyway, if you _did_ know, right?"

"_Exactly,_" she replied simply. "_Now, should I propose that we get out of here and rescue the others and defeat whatever Robotnik's 'Master Creation' is and go back to Knothole?_"

"Aww," Tails whined. "Don't you know what the 'Master Creation' is? We thought for sure you would." Sonic nodded in silent response.

"_Sorry, Tails, but the specimen called Eggor took me away from the others before Robotnik could 'spill' his plans. It's highly likely that the others know of it, however._"

"Then that settles it, let's head on up," Sonic said.

"Head on up? And go where, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"I… umm… do you have any ideas, NICOLE?" he asked the supercomputer sheepishly.

"_I have one or two,_" she chimed. "_But let's get moving now._"

A minute later, the room was silent and still once more, as though no one had ever been in there at all. And then the clocks hands and pendulums began moving anew…

* * *

**Tower Of Power / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 04: 00 AM**

"There must be an elevator around here somewhere," Tails said fretfully. "How else can smelly old Robotnik get to the top of the tower without one?"

The newly formed trio were getting just a little tired and peeved with all this dashing around [well except for NICOLE, seeing as Tails was carrying her and she had the utmost patience of them all, being a supercomputer an all]. They'd jogged round almost the entire middle floor of the tower, and couldn't find an elevator anywhere. Heck, they hadn't come across so much as a step-ladder. They had come across two patrolling groups of Crawltons, but our heroes had disposed of those easily though.

Now their plentiful supplies of peanut-butter-and-jelly sarnies that Mickey had thoughtfully supplied were all scoffed and they didn't have much in the way of nuts or crisps left to fuel Sonic's superfast metabolism.

"At last!" Sonic grumbled. "Look." He pointed to the end of the cold metal-crafted corridor. A pair of dark blue, sliding metal doors stood innocently there, not really doing all that much, in the manner of doors. "That's got to it."

The indicator above the door winked on, with a red electronic arrow pointing upwards suddenly flashing at them.

"Yikes! Something's on the way, let's hide. At least until we see what it is," Tails suggested.

"Tails speaks great logic, we should do as he says," NICOLE chimed in from his place in the palm of Tails' right hand.

Despite his impatience, which was now so peeved he feared it would burst out of his body, Sonic agreed with his furry and supercomputer pals. His hero-type energy needed to be preserved for the final confrontation with Robotnik. They hid along a side-passage as the sound of metal clanking approached from the distance.

The single robot passed by them without a glance, headed for Robotnik's computer laboratory. They ducked out behind it and raced into the elevator just as Spielbot keyed in his security code and made for the computer console in the computer laboratory.

Inside the elevator, Sonic pressed the arrow marked with an upwards-pointing arrow, as per NICOLE's casual suggestion. Tails sniggered. Sonic frowned. Onwards and upwards they do say don't they?

* * *

Back in the computer laboratory, Spielbot S desperately started beavering away in an attempt to find out why an order had been given to have him melted down for scarp.

Spielbot wasn't experienced in using computer-data systems. He didn't know Robotnik's access codes, and worst of all, he didn't know that Robotnik hadn't yet filed any data on his upcoming eggstermination. Furiously, Spielbot scanned what little data he had managed to get access to.

"Curses! Curses!" Spielbot screamed, jumping up and down and smashing a metal fist into the console. He hit something vital for the equipment sparked and the screens went black for a couple of seconds. A power unit in the corner of the room exploded and blew sheets of metal panelling into the room, which in turn shattered another group of computer units right by it. By the time the sparking and explosions had stopped, the entire building had been plunged into pitch darkness.

* * *

"What's happened?" Tails squeaked. The lights in the elevator had gone out and the thing ground to a halt in the middle of the elevator shaft. "Oh no! Robotnik must have seen us in here and he's stopped the elevator! We're caught like rats in a trap!"

"Stop squeaking, little dudes, we're not rats. I'm a way-cool hedgehog and you're his cute fox sidekick, and were both superdudes, stars of stage, screen and Megadrive," Sonic said sternly.

"_Yes, there's all that. The reason why the elevator has ceased to function however is for a much simpler reason. There's a power outage, either accidental or deliberate, and it's affected the entire electrical system for the castle, or at least, for this tower,_" NICOLE revealed, having connected herself to one of the upstairs mainframes right before the lights had gone out, and she had been sub frequently thrown out of the system matrix.

Taking a few seconds to reflect on this latest course of events, Sonic then began winding himself up for a vertical leap. He hurled himself at the top of the elevator, hoping to burst the metal door set there off its hinges. All he got for his pains was a nasty [not to mention clashing] pink bump on his head and the beginnings of an unpleasant headache.

"This is going to take longer than I thought," he snarled, "but we're going to get there guys, don't you worry. Sally… Bunnie… Antoine… Rotor… We're coming to get you!"

* * *

"What has happened? _Snively_?" Robotnik screamed with rage in the darkness.

"Switching to emergency back-up," came the reassuring voice of his pint-sized metal-clad assistant from just below a pair of dim yellow circles. It didn't calm down Robotnik's frayed nerves.

"We must eggspedite the completion of my – ha ha ha! – marvellous eggsperiment! That wretched hedgehog is in the building and now will not be able to track him cameras! Quickly, Eggor!"

Faint, flickering electrical light re-lit the ghastly scene atop the tower. Robotnik looked especially sinister in the shadows which still haunted the nooks and crannies of the tower, what with his fully-robotized right arm and glasses-obscured eyes.

"The emergency back-up systems are also damaged, Master. I estimate that even this meagre power will only hold for twenty-point-seven-two minutes," the robot reported sadly. "I estimate the problem to be an explosion in the computer laboratory on LEVEL 4. Repair system monitors estimate that completion time for repairing all of the damage will be twenty-three-point-five-five-hours."

"What? That dastardly hedgehog! I will have him eggspunged if it's the last thing I ever do!" yelled Robotnik, almost purple with fury.

"The one functioning sensor in the laboratory shows that there were no life-forms there when the eggsplosion occurred," Eggor said. "However, Spielbot S is in the laboratory right now."

"What?!" Eggor thought that Robotnik was actually going to eggsplode himself. "But I gave orders for him to be melted down!"

"The Melt-Down Squad was dispatched as you ordered," Eggor replied unhappily. "But there is no doubt that Spielbot in question caused the explosion." Actually, Eggor was, well, eggstrapolating a bit, but he got away with it. Something he _loved_ doing.

"Melt him down! Melt everything down!" Robotnik had gone through fury and rage, and his personal looneyometer was now hovering somewhere near the middle of total maniac dementia. "We can never finish this eggsperiment with more power! I must have more power! Ha ha haaaa!!!"

"Master, Master!" Eggor yelled above the screams of his deranged master, "I know how the eggsperiment can be completed."

"We cannot wait a whole day for power to be returned! Ha ha haaaaa!"

"No, twenty-three-point-five-five hours," Eggor said pedantically. "However, I have A Plan. The eggsperiment can be completed very swiftly, Master. For look, I have just accessed the weather reports."

"The weather report? At a time like this you worry about the **weather?!** Melt yourself down for scrap this instant you pint-sized twit!" Robotnik screamed. His moustaches trembled with frustration and he almost skipped on the spot, he was wobbling so much. Let's face it, he was making a real eggshibition of himself.

"Well, Master. This is my plan…"

Robotnik listened. As Eggor eggsplained he began to calm down just a little. By the time the robot had finished, he even allowed himself a small smile.

"I have already ordered a squadron of Egg-o-Matics to transport the eggsperiment across," Eggor smirked.

"Good robot! Ha ha ha! Good nephew! I knew there was some point to keeping you around all these years, it was just sheer genius on my part!"

"Thank you, Master," Eggor, or to be more precise, Snively, felt as if the world had just fallen at his feet.

* * *

"Why didn't we bring a spanner?" groaned Tails. "We could have got those super-tough titanium-steel plate bolts off with two shakes of a a two-tailed fox's tails."

"Because we're not plumbers," Sonic growled. "We're working for the other side, the good guys; remember?" The hedgehog wrenched another bolt from the ceiling with a mighty pull. He was getting fatigued, frustrated and very bored trying to disassemble the escape hatch atop the elevator.

"It seems very stupid to me to have an escape hatch and then make it virtually impossible to escape from it," he snarled. Looking down, he saw a fox trying hard not to look at him. He was suspicious immediately.

"What is it?" He demanded. The fox continued staring at the opposite wall of the elevator.

Sonic looked too. There was a small metal box with a glass front mounted on the wall, and above it was a small hammer. A sign fixed over the box read 'IN CASE OF EMERGENCY BREAK THE GLASS'.

Inside the box was a spanner [d'oh!]

One smashed box later, and a furious few seconds of crazed spanner-waggling after that, Sonic and Tails [with NICOLE in tow] successfully clambered on top of the elevator cubicle and stared up at the chains and levers above them.

"Let's get climbing, dude. I can see the end of the book coming up fast and we've still got a ton of hero stuff to fit in," Sonic said grimly, before adding. "And try not to drop NICOLE! Goodness knows that Sally would kill us both if anything were to happen to her-"

"_Ahem,_" the aforementioned supercomputer piped in.

It took a moment to figure out the subtle jab, but the hedgehog got there in the end.

"Okay, okay, plus we'd totally miss you, supercomputer-babe. Is that alright?" Sonic directed at the handheld in question, with not-so-subtle puppy dog eyes.

"_Quite,_" she answered simply. And then they continued their venture upwards.

* * *

**Marble Zone Outskirts / South Island / 04: 30 AM**

"Well done, luvs," said the directing robot as the rats finally finished devouring the biggest baconburger in the history of Mobius. "A simple lovely take, Super, absolutely super." It spoke with all the sincerity of a politician on the telly i.e. None At All.

"Unfortunately, luvs, we have another project to work on now. We've just had fresh orders. We're going to be filming the climatic scenes for a guaranteed Eggscar-winning movie," it said with pride. It was thinking of an Eggscar for himself. It realised its mistake immediately, and wished that it had had a Discretion Circuit installed.

"An _Eggscar winner_?" Capone growled softly. "Well, now, that's interesting, isn't it boys?"

The rats snarled agreement a bit uncertainly. Most of them didn't even know what an Eggscar was.

"Thug like Eggscars," the greyhound barbarian intoned. He was a bit sore after wrestling a twenty-metre tall pig to the ground, and he didn't know anything about art, but he sure knew what he liked.

"I think we oughta be in this movie, don't you?" Capone snarled. Heads nodding all around him.

"But, luvvies, darlings, please be reasonable. There aren't any parts for you," the robot pleaded.

"Get the screenwriter to write some" Drizzle the donkey-wizard yelled, "or else he gets a dose of the Ebon Staff of Peaminster the Magnificent!"

"Yeah," Capone agreed, since he was holding it. "So what's this wonderful movie called anyway?"

"Well, umm, I can reveal to you at this time that it's called _Castle Robotnik_. It's a monster movie," the robot said helplessly.

"Monsters! Will there be any Foul Dragons to slay?" asked Sir Norbert the squirrel knight.

"Not as such," the robot said. "There's something much bigger, actually."

"Bigger than a Mighty Dragon? It's not a Twenty-Metre Chaos Death Dino-Pig, is it?" asked Sir Norbert suspiciously.

"Definitely not. But it's a secret," the robot said pompously.

"You better tell me, tough guy, or else you can get staffed," said Capone, pointing the Ebon Staff squarely at him. The robot flinched metallically.

"But, luvvie, I don't know what it is. That's why it's a Secret," it pleaded.

"We are wasting time on our epic quest!" Sir Norbert shouted. "We must begone to dire, dark , doom-filled Castle Robotnik and –"

"–Kill Gazza the Dark Lord again, I suppose," came the sarcastic female voice of Bimbette the Thief, of the scarce Dragon Li variety of Mobian Cats.

"–Kill Gazza the Dark Lord! No, of course not," the paladin babbled confusedly. "We must slay the dire, dark, doom-filled secret of dire, damp, dark –"

"Yes, we get the idea, you chinless dweeb," Capone growled at him. "Now let's get moving. It'll be light in just a few more hours, there's a morning storm on the way, and it's a fair hike to the Scarp Brain Zone."

* * *

"Do we have the infra-red night-time cameras for filming the secretive little animals?" Attenbot D was asking his robotic technician.

"Check," the robot said.

"And we have sent out the field crew to make those clever hiding places from where we can film them without disturbing them?"

"Check," the technician said again.

"We have the jeeps and trucks to transport everything?"

"Check," the technician said automatically.

"How are we going to get paid?"

"Cheque," the technician said again.

"Right then. Let's go shoot some animals!"

"CHECKKK!"

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

**

* * *

  
**

Man, I was kinda afraid at how bad the original content section in this chapter would turn out, but I think I at least started it off well and described it alright methinks! And with it, adds a facet to NICOLE not widely seen in any media she's been in so far [in my honest opinion], being from the future and all, where she would know _certain_ things like- *snip*

Oh and by the way… I messed up last chapter. Robotnik wears his traditional glasses so you wouldn't be able to tell whether his eyes were red or not! [I'm certainly not giving _that_ away].

I also made the volcanic 'baconburger' location an undetermined part in the Marble Zone [though the actual book screams Hill Top Zone for me, but that as we all know is on West Island, not South Island, so because of time/pacing issues I changed it. Not that it was too important anyway methinks].

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	21. Robotnik Eggscapes!

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

_

* * *

  
_

**CHAPTER 21: Robotnik Eggscapes! **

**Unknown Location / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 04: 45 AM**

"We can leap across from here," Sonic panted to Tails as they hung precariously at the top of the elevator chains. They were fifteen metres above the elevator now and it seemed like an awfully long drop.

The fox twirled his tails into action and zipped on over to the ledge by the elevator doors to the top floor. "How are we going to open them?" he said, keeping careful hold of NICOLE.

"This, little dude is a time for deeds of super-bodacious heroism!" Sonic cried. Whipping himself into a Super-Spin from a standing start – and let us tell you, that isn't easy even for a hero of the stature of Sonic, so don't try this at homes, kids – he smashed into the doors. For a horrible split-second it looked as if they would get dented a little and a tiny, insignificant little hedgehog was going to bounce right off them and hit the elevator roof far, far below. Then they swished open, Sonic hanging onto one of them and scrabbling on the floor beyond in an instant.

"We're in," he gasped. "Cowabunga, but that was a radically close call. Now let's find that eggy ratfink Robotnik and put a stop to all of this madness once and for all the marbles."

* * *

The top of the castle was more like the dungeons of the underground levels than anything they'd seen on the unforgettable LEVEL 5. Cold stone walls held the familiar torches, but they weren't burning and there was very little light by which to see. So Tails opted to use NICOLE's main screen as a improvised torch [not that even that helped very much].

"Huh, just bogus imitations," Sonic sniffed disdainfully as he examined one of the torches. "It's actually lit with an electric light bulb. How naff can you get?"

"Not to mention lazy," Tails murmured, to which NICOLE chimed in agreement.

"Though, that means that the power isn't turned on up here either," Tails reasoned. "That's interesting. So NICOLE was right, this is an electrical breakdown!"

Sonic's eyes gleamed. "And that'll mean that Robotnik's alarms and traps may not be working properly! Hey, is this Lucky Day City or what? Let's find him and the others fast!"

He sped off along the passages, kicking open doors, ignoring the networks of laboratories that didn't have Robotnik [or their comrades] in them. Booming shouts and multiple battle cries finally drove them to one big, metallic crimson door at the end of the passage. At last, after a great deal of door kicking, neck craning and sub frequent corridor zooming, they had found the master laboratory.

* * *

"Well, this was, unexpected," Sonic said lamely, joining Tails in double-blinking his eyes at the scene before him.

Robotnik was standing on the far side of the room atop some moving wall platforms, shooing away the angry southern belle below with frantic gestures, about to clamber into his trusty Egg-o-Matic from a hatch that had been opened in the wall.

"Get on down here ya old Robuttnik! Ah don't have all day to kick your ugly ass! " Bunnie shouted in fury.

"Get away from me you demented freak! None of you can stop me now! None of you! Not even that wretched hedgehog. Ha ha haaaa!!!" the deranged lunatic shouted into the stormy calamity above them, now comfortable in his Egg-o-Matic.

Sonic and Tails then tilted their heads around to the middle of the room where a lone Robian was tied up, no wait, that was no Robian! It was Eggor, or more to the specifics, Snively in a robot armoured suit! _Man, what a dweeb_, Sonic thought. _At least Sally, Rotor and Antoine managed to deal with snot-face, though_, he thought, nodding his approval to them all.

"Sonic!" Sally cried, running over and throwing her arms around him, holding on just a little bit longer than usual.

"Hey… Sal," he croaked out, visibly trying hard to keep his facial colours cool.

"And Tails! How are you sweetie? You're not hurt are you? Sonic hasn't been overfeeding you again has he?" the princess said in a frantic motherly tone, all the while whilst ruffling his head hairs and holding him gently to her chest. The last retort was glared Sonic's way, causing him to fidget awkwardly. Tails muttered inaudible things, as you do when stuck in a motherly wrestled hug, so it was up for Sonic to save his own bacon.

"Well… You know how it is, Sal… We kinda needed all the food we could muster to get through this place and–" he began, seriously.

"NICOLE!" Sally shouted, cutting Sonic off, and causing him to sigh. "Wow, I can't believe they found you! Just where did that no-good Snively take you to earlier?" Sally enquired, having not been without NICOLE at her side for such a period of time since, well, they'd met. _'Everyone needs a friend'_ she'd said back then, and that was certainly true now, now that they were all together again.

As the supercomputer vowed to tell her Princess what she knew of that mysterious room she'd been held in, Bunnie, calmed down from her brief brush with Robotnik, came sprinting over to the duo, smiling wildly.

"How ah ya'll doin' sugah hog?" Bunnie directed Sonic's way, giving her a 'Good thanks, a rough few days though' and a thumbs up in return. "And haws mah lil sweet bunches?" An adorable nickname which was obviously directed at Tails, who in return pretty much repeated the same quick tale as Sonic did to his 'Aunt Bunnie', albeit including the heinous mutant spider details. Bunnie visibly shuddered at that one, but still her fighting instincts kicked in as she vowed to kick any mutant spiders whom came their way ever again.

Antoine, however, didn't look too pleased to see them from the disdain looks he was passing in a certain blue hedgehog's direction [he didn't really care that much about the 'pup' he referred Tails to at this point].

"It took you foueels long enough didn't it? It's only been, like, 3 DAYS of entrapment!" The coyote's sarcasm dripped like honey in a bee's hive [it was that obvious], his arms crossed over his chest and his pointed nose aimed sky-high.

"Ahem… O furry ones!" a distant [and somewhat desperate] cry came. Everyone ignored it, as they had done for the last few minutes now.

* * *

"Well Ant, I'm sorry if you can't keep your richly whites from twisting for just _under 2 days,_" Sonic cheekily, although visibly abit agitated, retorted back, holding us two fingers to further imprint the last detail in Antoine's feeble little mind [from Sonic's Point of View, not mine, what would I know? I'm only a human, but I digress…]

"Oi! Respect and listen to your elders you dastardly bunch of morons!" They ignored it again.

"Mi iz très angry right now, how d-dare you insult mi clothing tastes. At least I'm décent unlike y-you!" Antoine angrily spat back, the cerulean hedgehog grinding his gears [and tearing down his self-confidence, whether he'd admit it or not] once more. He then went into full-blown French spatting [very messy].

"Whiney whiner!"

"Showoff stupide!"

"Coward!"

"Porc arrogant!"

Sally, Bunnie, Tails and Rotor [yes he was there too, the dup had high-fived him earlier on, really] all sighed loudly, getting ready to witness Sonic V.S. Antoine: Round 125 [they thought?] Luckily, that one would have to wait for another day as…

***BOOM!***

When the smoke cleared seconds later, the culprit behind the sneak attack was revealed.

It was [or had been], a Bombot, and judging by the familiar laugh above them, it could've only been thrown at them by one person–

"Ha ha haaaaa!!!!" the [unsurprisingly] culprit, Robotnik cackled in his Egg-o-Matic above them. "That'll serve you pests for ignoring the likes of me! My genius will _NOT_ be ignored!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever _eggy man_," Sonic muttered loudly, rolling his eyes.

"Bah! Whatever you freakish rodent! Now it's the time for all you to meet your maker! Ha ha haaa!!!" the lunatic cackled into the night where rain was lashing down and thunder rolled across the dark skies. Mobius was having another of its really bad nights. Its resident owls were meeting urgently to consider a proposed suicide pact.

"You are too late you wretched hedgehog! And your resistance efforts are at an end dear Princess and your fickle soldiers in arms too. Soon my master creation will be set loose upon Mobius and destroy all of your insufferable furries! Ha ha ha!!!" Robotnik wriggled with glee, sneering at them all in turn. It was truly a disgusting sight, like nothing so much as seventeen ferrets fighting inside a bean-bag.

It was then that the Freedom Fighters noticed that a certain someone was hooked and secured underneath the Egg-o-Matic craft.

"What he said, what he said!" Snively exclaimed excitedly, sans helmet.

_Damn._ Sally thought. _He must've slipped away whilst Sonic and Antoine were having their daily hissy fit…_ She sighed. _Men._

"Not so fast you bloated over-brained badnik!" Sonic yelled at him, but his flying and spinning were too late. Robotnik sniggered from his flying ship and nephew in tow sped off into the night.

"Where's that old Buttnik off to ya'll?" Bunnie yelled. "We've gotta keep an eye on him!"

"Good luck seeing anything in that, mi comrades in arms," Antoine moaned from behind her. Whilst he was being annoying again, Sonic and Sally both stubbornly agreed with him, as it was unusually darker than usual and teeming with rain. Sonic, Tails and Ritor kept an eye on the Egg-o-Matic anyhow. Unfortunately, it flew behind the Tower of Power and lost to anyone without super-sighted abilities [i.e. no one here].

* * *

"Heinous curses! The rat got away," Sonic growled. "Well, at least we might be able to find out what he's been doing here."

"Yes, we need to know how to help Antoine out…" Tails said, drifting off as he looked at the coyote in question for the first time since they'd entered the room. He blinked, and then blinked again.

"Wha-?" he said, mouth open wide. "You look perfectly… normal again?"

"Iz the pup insulting mi looks again like his no good prat of a friend now?" Antoine began angrily, stepping forward towards said two-tailed 'pup'.

"No, no!" Tails said, waving his arms about frantically. "It's just that, you look over the whole… vampire thing now? You're not pale or wart-covered it seems anyway. How'd you overcome it?" Tails enquired, intrigued as to the solution, his brain more eager for answers than usual [even if they were complexly numb to understand].

"Yeah," Sonic agreed. "And how did you bust on out chums? Have you been rampaging free for long?" Sonic asked in Sally's direction.

"I… You go first Antoine," the Princess gently offered with a small bow.

"No, no! Do go first, mademoiselle… Zay will be fine with you telling thee tale that needs telling," Antoine slowly romanced back, his puppy-dog eyes showing.

"Ok… If you're sure…?" Sally murmured anxiously in return, seemingly oblivious as to the coyote's gooey blue eyes on her. Either that or she'd learnt to block his efforts out by now, however long that was.

"I iz very sure. Go ahead my princesse," the wannabe swordsman coaxed, shooing her with his arms to get going.

Sally nodded. "As for us breaking out, we didn't _do_ anything. We'd been huddled on that platform over there and kept in with a force field for the last day or so," she continued diligently as though it was a mission debrief, pointing over to where the platform now was. It'd been on a lower level of the tower previously and elevated up for the 'big movie climax'.

"We figured that it was something that you guys did," the resistance leader concluded, brushing a stray hair out of her eye-line.

The duo exchanged a look. "Nope. It was nothing we did, although…" Sonic drawled off, leaving Tails to fill in the only probable conclusion. "It must've been whoever caused this power-outage who disrupted the containment field."

"_That makes good sense, Tails,_" NICOLE chimed in. everyone nodded at that and then Sonic and Tails turned to face Antoine, eager to hear of his [seemingly] recovery.

Aware of his audience, Antoine flinched. "I is what recovered mi," he boasted. Only to be met with blank faces by the duo.

Antoine visibly scowled at their lack of deduction skills, "I recovered naturally – zat iz what I meant!" he howled irritantably.

"Oh," Sonic said lamely. "Why didn't you just say so in the first place, rather than get your face all purple and bluey like that," he feigned innocently.

"W-why you little!" Antoine yelled, stepping forward, ready to clash verbally with the blue brute [his words not mine] once more. Heck if he needed to use his sword then he would…

Thankfully, Sally and Bunnie both stepped in and extended their arms out in order to prevent another pointless spat. They had far bigger fish to fry after all.

"Antoine ya'll dearly starting to TICK ME OFF," Bunnie hissed. The coyote flinched and whimpered pathetically.

"Heh," Sonic sniggered.

"You too show-off hog!" Sally said furiously. His mouth stayed still after that one, but a pout still played on his lip as he sulked. _He was just so childish!_ _And yet invaluable…_ _What a cruel combination_, the Princess moaned to her personal quarters, her mind itself.

The two alpha males reluctantly stood down at that point, their ears and eyes drooped low like a dog that had been told off by its benefactor master.

"Good call," Rotor offered Sonic as support [whilst Bunnie offered Antoine a small hug and whispered words of apology, and advice]. "Tis best not to get on the wrong side of the girls. I have known Sally [at least] pretty much my whole life, unlike you, Sonic," the walrus said, offering a friendly smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just old Ant-features... He's so _annoying!_"

_I'm sure he thinks the same of you_, Rotor thought inwardly. Deciding not to voice it out loud, not yet anyway, seeing they had unfinished business left to deal with.

"Yeah. He sure can, we all can potentially," Rotor finished. Everyone turned to face Sally and NICOLE whom the princess now held once more.

* * *

She suggested that they split up and investigate the workshop, despite the fading light. The most obvious thing in the workshop being a twenty-metre-length vast wooden slab. Robotnik must have felled half a rain-forest to make it, which they figured was just the horrid thing that odious bloated toad would do. Huge leather straps were bolted to it, with enormous buckles to secure them, as if to tie down something ginormous beyond the ordinary conception of your average hero-type dudes and dudettes. It certainly wet Antoine's brow at least, and even the strong-minded Princess and Bunnie felt a little uneasy being near the thing. Whatever had been in there just resonated a dense feeling of the _unnatural_. And considering what Sonic and Tails had put up with so far of Castle Robotnik's forces, this definitely sounded alarm bells.

"I don't believe this thing," Tails said. "What on Mobius can he have that's that flipping big? And what's more, where is it now?"

"At the bottom of the Oil Ocean Zone hopefully," Rotor murmured, not feeling particularly confident about this giant unseen foe, be it living flesh or cold metal.

Sonic, Bunnie and Sally meanwhile were looking disbelievingly up at a twenty-metre-high hatch in the wall just by the place that Robotnik and Snively had escaped from.

"Now that's ah big enchilada," Bunnie whistled.

"I think it got out through here," Sonic said. "It must have needed a dozen Egg-o-Matics to get it out."

"Unless it can fly," Tails volunteered.

"I don't, like, even want _consider_ that possibility," Sonic said dryly. Everyone nodded in haste agreement, forcing Tails to shrug.

They searched the place as thoroughly as they could, but they found virtually nothing. All they did was turn up some doodles on scraps of papers with the heading 'Computer Laboratory' at the top of them. They couldn't make any real sense of them, and NICOLE reached the same conclusion shortly after. Whatever they were looking for, Robotnik knew damn well not to conceal it in this room, prey the likes of them discovering his nefarious schemes before he could get the chance to gloat and wobble with glee as he told them personally…

"Wait a minute. The computer laboratory is on the middle floor," Tails said. "That robot we passed went into it. We could check there. It's got to be our best chance, right?"

"Indeed so. Whose my little clever boy," Sally told him proudly as she ruffled his hair again. Sonic meanwhile had an even look on his face, as though he had something he was _aching_ to say.

"You do know, that means climbing back down into the elevator. _All of us._"

"Yes, I suppose so. It'll be a bumpy ride but-"

"And then undoing the bolts in the door in the floor…"

"Well, at least we have a spanner now," Tails continued anxiously.

"And then climbing down to get back to the middle floor… With the likes of _Antoine_ of tow…"

"Oh yes, mi iz coming with- H-hey!"

"Breathe in and out now, sugar-twan…"

"Yeah, there's that too…"

"And smashing open the doors there. It might not be so easy a second time around…"

"Yeah, okay… Wait. Bunnie could easily take out that door, or any type of door, you know that," Tails said with pride, looking at Sonic in surprise.

"Aww, thanks sweetie! No gates or doors are ah match for the likes of this fighting belle!"

"That's if we get down there at all, little bro," Sonic replied all smarmy like, but with his a quaint little smile now creeping to the ends of his face.

"Okay then clever clogs. Do _you_ have a better idea?" Tails retorted, losing his cool [and not seeing the obvious playful ruse].

"Yeah, Sonic, do reveal your magic tricks for this audience," Sally teased, "We're waiting…" she said, tapping her foot impatiently on the stone floor.

"Sure," Sonic sniggered, seeing Tails flip his lid so easily and Sally this agitated was a prankster's golden delight. "I'm standing on a trapdoor," he said slowly. "Bet you there's a secret set of steps leading down to the middle floor beneath it," he chimed with a huge grin.

Rotor laughed. Antoine blinked. Bunnie smiled a knowing smile. And Sally and Tails facepalmed in disbelief at their sheer lack of tact, compared to Sonic's here and now. Now that was embarrassing.

_Damn you, Sonic the Hedgehog_, Sally thought.

* * *

**Computer Laboratory / Middle Floor / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 05: 52 AM**

Spielbot S was panicking. At any moment he was expecting a group of black robots to turn up and arrange an immediate funeral for him. The power had almost completely failed now, and he still hadn't found out anything about his predicament. He was so intent on scrabbling at the computer console that he didn't hear the dozen softly approaching footstep sounds until it was too late.

"Don't move. There's a loaded spanner at your back and I'm not afraid to use it. One false move and you're going to be dismantled by my good robot demolishing friend here," came a distinctly hedgehoggy voice.

"That's one kind way of putting it, sugah-hog," the breezy southern rabbit's response came, from back and right of Spielbot, or so it seemed anyway.

"All right. Please don't do that. I've got a wifedroid and three babybots to support," the robot pleaded.

"Don't you think you should have thought about them before you got yourself into this sorry mess? What are you doing anything?" the casual speaking Rotor said, from somewhere behind and to the left [you know the rest].

"I'm trying to find out why Dr Robotnik, world-famous super-genuis and brilliant movie director–"

There was at least four menacing growls from directly behind him. Spielbot changed his speech very hastily.

"–has ordered me to be melted down for scrap."

"Oh, really?" said Sally, and then she had a brainwave. "Oh, really! Well, what with the power failure here, you can't actually be melted down right now. We were sent to dismantle you instead. However, in the interests of discovering what the power failure and dealing with it, we might spare you if you provide us some important information."

Sonic was always impressed by how the Princess worked things. It was pretty admirable to be so brainy, he figured [not that he'd like to don the other shoe].

"What do you want to know?" Spielbot said. The thought of his imminent dismantling made him scared, and he couldn't concentrate properly. If he had he just may have turned around and not did what came next.

"Well, first we need to know about the _Castle Robotnik_ movie so that we can help repair the damage," Tails said. What sounded like a hurried echo of 'What the pup said,' entered Spielbot's audio sensors thereafter. The whole argument wasn't enormously plausible, but he was too fearful by that point to think straight.

Spielbot began telling them everything they wanted to know, and a lot more besides. By the time he'd finished, if anyone had asked them to fill in a detailed questionnaire on their current mental state, the Freedom Fighters could only have ticked the box marked 'totally gobsmacked'.

* * *

**Somewhere Outside The Scrap Brain Zone / South Island / 05: 52 AM**

"My plate mail is going to rust in this," Sir Norbert complained as they trudged through the undergrowth. "Not to mention my weapon and shield here."

"That's never been anything to write home about," Bimbette said dryly. For an underdressed damsel she sure had a lot of bottle. "I wouldn't worry about it, Nobby."

A gleam of metal could suddenly be seen lurking in the undergrowth as a flash of lightning illuminated the dark dawn sky. A detachment of rats sneaked into the scrubs and ferns to surround whatever it was. The sound of rodent snarls and the whip of ropes being flung around metal told everyone that they'd caught something.

"Help me," pleaded the small robot they'd captured. It resembled one of Robotnik's Caterkillers, but its eyes were now glowing a dull red.

"A spy!" Capone snarled. "Let's do some improvised junking work, guys."

"No! Please! I'm just a helpless little cambot," the robot whined. "With infra-red lenses for night-time work or just plain dark times like these. Please don't do anything nasty to me, Mr Rat, sir."

"A cambot?" the directing robot said suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

"Making a wildlife documentary," the cambot said.

"Oh yeah?" snarled the directing robot. "Who for?"

"Attenbot D, the infinitely famous documentary maker and winner of the All-Mobius All-Round Darn Nice Droid Award five years running," the cambot said proudly.

"Never heard of him!" spat Capone. The canary on his arm held a look of recognition, but it quickly faded and then she went back to her 'feigning over Capone' routine.

"This is an outrage!" the director said furiously. "He's trying to steal my movie, is he? We'll soon see about _that_. Where's his hide-out then?"

"Just over there," the cambot indicated with a flick of its round head. "See that tree that looks like a tree? It's actually a carefully constructed production complex with an array of sound recording devices, infra-red camera and–"

"Yes, I can imagine," the director said. It stomped off to the tree and hammered on it. A silvery blue metal head poked out and the distant sound of a commentary could be heard coming from inside.

"… and here we have the feral Mobius Rat, _Rattus rattus Robotnikus_, in a most unusual environment. These scavengers are most active in the night-time hours–"

"Scavengers?" Capone yelled furiously. "Who is this soon-to-be-an-ex-jerk?"

"That's Mr Attenbot D," the cambot said proudly. "Isn't he good?"

"– and they are noted for their frequent disposition to mindless violence," the Attenbot continued. He wasn't in the hut himself, but his commentary was being relayed through from a distant location.

"You're stealing my movie," the director said to the metal head that had poked out of the hideout door.

"Why don't you just run off and rust somewhere, little droid?" said the other robot contemptuously. "I've got an award-winning documentary to finish."

The director pulled its head off.

Capone gave it a whole new look of respect. "Now, that's the way to go," he yelled. "Wipe-out time, boys. Trash everything!"

A rodent crowd noted for its frequent predisposition to mindless violence set about the handful of robots left in the film-making hideout. After only a few seconds, there was nothing left intact, bar the one monitor showing the Attenbot, and Sir Norbert put his sword through that. Obviously, since the weapon and shield were made of [cheap] metal, and attached to the twerp on the other end, he got electrocuted, but then he wasn't the most intelligent squirrel around. Bimbette sighed heavily; she was surrounded by utter buffoons…

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

**

* * *

  
**

God damn it… I can't write Antoine at all [or French; I took German at school instead]. x-x

Bunnie's fun to write though; I liked the Tails nickname I managed to come up with.

I finished the 'Castle Robotnik Quartet' in record time [two chapters ago actually], so the DA links to that and 'Mummified Sally' and 'Psycho Bunnie' on my FF Profile Page now if you want a look-see / comment / fave them.

Oh and 'Attenbot D' is based off of David Attenborough, also famous for his global-spanning wildlife documentaries. I only realised the connection today whilst re-reading through this chapter, despite having had this book for at least a decade now [d'oh!]

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	22. Frankensonic Lives!

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

_

* * *

  
_

**CHAPTER 22: Frankensonic Lives! **

**Computer Laboratory / Middle Floor / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 16 AM**

"So he's building a twenty-metre tall, giant-killer hedgehog that looks just like an XL version of me?" Sonic enquired incredulously.

"Oh my, of all the people to base it on that dastardly swine had to pick him," Sally moaned, raising her right hand to her head as if to qualm a headache that was going to be there. "His head is gonna get even bigger isn't it? Please, knock me out now Bunnie," she subtly begged.

The rabbit female chuckled in return. "I'm sure it won't get that bad Sally girl. And besides I bet ya it's as uglier as Robotnik himself!"

"Yeah, most definitely," Sally agreed, allowing herself a small chuckle at the endless possibilities to the worst paintjobs a robot Sonic could have. A disagreeing scoff was uttered nearby at the Sonic-focused part of the statement.

"Look, I've told you three times already," Spielbot began, "It was going to be the epic scene at the end of the movie. It was going to clamber to its enormous feet and squash, err, certain intruders," Spielbot said. By now, he'd figured out that he'd dug a seriously deep hole for himself. It was only after he'd finished blabbing everything he knew that he had realised that the Freedom Fighters were the ones standing behind him. By then, of course, it was too late.

"Oh yeah, those gorillas, right?" Tails asked, remembering the radio broadcast from much earlier in the plot.

Spielbot was completely confused now.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. All we need to know is where is Robotnik now that he's fled his lab atop this tower? Tell us that and you can back to your wife and babybots," Sonic offered.

"That's the problem, I don't know," the Spielbot pleaded. "Honestly, I don't. Ow! Get that spanner off my steel-dermal plating. It f-frightens me."

"Talk or else!" Tails tried one last time.

"_I don't know!!!_"

"He doesn't know," Sally said sadly.

"How many times do I have to tell you that?" the robot pleaded.

His speech was interrupted by an enormous thunder-clap which exploded in the air directly over the castle. Tails wanted to put his paws over his ears [he _hated_ thunder], but he held the spanner to Spielbot's back for dear life. And Antoine already had put his paws over his ears and was wailing at the top of his voice that 'it's the end of mi handsome self as I know it!' Sally, Bunnie and the rest cringed. Just at that moment, as if the lightning had been intended for him, a brilliant idea seeped madly into Rotor's mind.

"Hey guys! I know where's he's gone!" he said excitedly. "Think about it. He needs electrical power to complete animating this hideous thing, right?"

"Right," Sonic said, waiting for his walrus pal to get to the blooming point, and wondering whether a robotic version of himself could look almost as cool and blue as he was…

"There isn't any left here, right?"

"Right again. So?"

"Come with me, guys," Rotor said.

"If you move, you're an ex-robot. Don't think Bunnie wouldn't have fun pummelling you into scrap," Sonic snarled. "Oh yeah, ah would!" came the enthusiastic reply. The cowardly droid however sat upright in his chair and didn't move his body one centimetre.

"Let's take a look. Through this hatch that Spielbot showed us." Rotor, Sally and Bunnie tugged furiously at the sealed doors. Finally, they prised a few centimetres apart.

"There!" Rotor shouted triumphantly.

Sonic looked across at the Tower of Power. Atop it, the radio antenna glowed white as a bolt of lightning struck it from the storm-filled skies.

"Of course," the hedgehog and Princess breathed, the former punching one tightly clenched fist into his other hand, just like he'd seen them do in the movies. "We saw the Egg-o-Matic disappear on the far side of it," Sonic continued, with a subtle nod from Sally. "There must be another of these secret hatches over there, and he flew into it. But how are we going to get across? The tower is surrounded by Cluckers and worse."

"NICOLE, can you run a scan of the Tower's perimeters?" Sally commanded evenly to her trusty supercomputer.

"_Certainly, Sally. Give me 60 seconds._"

And a minute later…

"_I can confirm that an offensive via the ground level would be downright 'suicide'. Designation of robotic lifeforms surround the entre Tower perimeter, and consists of:_

_50 Cluckers, 50 Buzzers, 40 Caterkillers, 30 Crawltons and 30 Ballhogs._"

"Yikes!" Tails squealed. "There's no way we could get past all those quickly enough to top Robotnik!"

"Tis pup is right. It'd be utter _suicide_! I don't want mi to die!" Antoine yelped.

"I'm sure we could take them," Bunnie murmured.

"I guess we'll just have to fly across. We can do it guys," Sonic offered, turning to Sally. She nodded, despite her misgivings they could all make it.

"You realise that'll mean getting back into the elevator shaft," Tails began.

"Yes, that's true."

"And climbing back into the elevator."

"I know."

"Then climbing back up the chains to the top floor again."

"Dreadful, isn't it? Wait a minute; haven't we had a conversation like this before?"

"Yes, you silly fox," Sonic shrugged, aiming a friendly swipe just over his head. "You're forgetting that we found those secret steps, right? Dimbo!"

Tails clapped his paws to his head. He'd been so bound up in keeping the spanner at Spielbot's back, the sudden thunder, Rotor's revelation, the thunder, the Badnik hoard awaiting them down below and the thunder, and thinking about what they could do when they reached the Tower of Power, that he'd entirely forgotten about Sonic's secret steps.

"Well let's get moving. And you, don't you move or else–"

Sonic looked around angrily and Bunnie muttered some curses under her breath too, as whilst they had been standing around and looking out into the night, Spielbot had sneaked away.

"He may be raising the alarm!" Sally yelled. "There's no time for us to lose. Freedom Fighters – Out!"

They sped up the stairs, across the top of the tower, and leapt out into the stormy night. [Ok, ok, Antoine had to be carried by Bunnie…] But it was definitely do-or-die time for Mobius' greatest Freedom Fighter team!

* * *

"Say, you're not the pathetic, chinless, metal-dweeb brain I thought you were," Capone said. "I like your style. Pulling the heads off things – that's cool."

"It was nothing," the directing robot said modestly.

"I don't even know your name," Capone commented as they reached the margins of the Scrap Brain Zone. "What's your handle?"

"My friends call me Unit 7264D," the robot said confidently.

"Huh," Capone said. "That's no kind of name. Look, dude, you need a snappy name like me, right? That gets you respect, you know what I mean? So we'll give you a family name. That's a great honour. You got it? Call yourself Tortellini, chum."

"Your Majesty," offered one of Capone's gang,"you do know that that's a kind of pasta?"

"You know who you is speaking about?" Capone yelled furiously. "Baby Angelo 'Machine Gun' Tortellini. He was my brudda! I calla this dude Tortellini in honour of my dead brudda and you wanna talk about pasta? If I hear one more squeak out of you, you're geography!"

"Erm, are you sure you don't mean 'history', Your Majesty," ventured the rat.

"No, I know what I mean. You're gonna be scattered so far and wide your mother's gonna need an atlas to find you again. You got me?"

The rat gave a little shriek and scampered to the back of the pack and out of sight. Capone put his paw round the robot's metal shoulder.

"You're one of the family now," he said. "You just keep pulling the heads off things, all right?"

"You got it," the newly christened 'Tortellini' robot replied happily; a new career beckoned! "That's where the final shot's going to be made," he said, pointing up to the Tower of Power in the distance.

"I like shooting," Capone snarled. "Let's get this over with, boys."

Rats, robots and actors converged on the castle like a swarm of moths around a lighthouse. Only less, well, moth-like.

* * *

**Computer Laboratory / Tower of Power / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 28 AM**

"Stop right there, again, you heinous and evil, deranged, genius-type scoundrel!" demanded a furious hedgehog, with a backing of four determined comrades behind him. They stood at the entrance of Robotnik's improvised laboratory atop the Tower of Power. And they could hardly believe what they saw.

The laboratory was a shambolic mess, plainly assembled in a very short time as a purely temporary measure. A huge roof hatch had been opened to the radio antenna. The antenna itself was acting as a lightning conductor, funnelling great sparking arcs of power into gigantic metal coils assembled around an enormous wooden slab, just like the one left behind in the Great Tower. Smoke and steam hissed everywhere, dispersed temporarily by blue electrical sparks which crackled away up massive steel rods every few seconds. Viscous fluids bubbled in great fluted glass columns, bubbles of gas constantly rippling upwards from the bottom of them. Two large emergency generators were bolted to the walls halfway across the room, with large metal levers protruding invitingly from them.

Robotnik stood by one, Snively by the other. Between them and our heroes were a squadron of Buzzers, which hovered in the air like a hive of livid bees confronting a shoplifting grizzly bear, and a veritable legion of Grounders, tank-like robots which growled into action the moment the intruders appeared.

Now, all that's pretty neat, but it's not really surprising, and in the Freedom Fighters' case that's the effect we're looking for. It was what was on the wooden slab which staggered them, even though they knew what they might find after Spielbot's earlier divergence. It was the appearance of the thing in the flesh, as it were, which really blew them away.

It was, indeed, twenty metres tall. It lay flat on the slab, restrained by metre-thick leather straps around its chest and legs and by metal manacles on its writs. In short, it was a drop-head HUGE version of Sonic himself. There were, however, some crucial differences, which would have given the game away were the thing plainly not fifteen times as tall as our plucky blue hero. It wasn't wearing red sneakers, which Sonic was awfully glad about. On the other hand, they would have been something to see, the sort of footwear which gives rise to rhymes about old women who live in shoes.

Furthermore, the hedgehog from hell was a yucky shade of dark green instead of blue, and it had horrible scars like zip fasteners around its neck, wrists and forehead. Small goblets of black guck oozed out of them too [eww]. And a huge pair of metal bolts protruded from the sides of its neck, begging the question: how big was the spanner that fitted them? A huge metal skull was clamped over its head and metal coils connected this to the generator. It was simply too heinous for any of them to look at.

Sally, Bunnie, Tails and Sonic immediately whizzed to the attack, with Rotor and Antoine acting as backup and support if and when needed, with the assembled Badniks rumbling into action to face them all. Frantically, Robotnik and Snively waited for another crack of lightning to power the bodged-up generator system.

"Come on Antoine! Put some muscle into it!" Bunnie shouted, noticing that the coyote in question was flailing his arms about lamely whilst in the middle of a load of hovering Buzzers, who were eying their prey eagerly. So much so that two from the pack rocketed on down to personally slam into the sweating coyote's head.

He was afraid, so very afraid; not only of getting hurt but also of letting everyone down. _And she'd had such faith in mi earlier…_ he fretted. _That mi and that foueel could learn to get along and become better people. Can I though? … Do I even have a choice?_

The answer to that was an astoundly obvious and firm 'No'.

The Buzzers were about to reach their intended destination when, out of the blue, the subject jumped in the air, kicking out his legs and uttering a tame battle cry as he went. Their insectoid crafted eyes widened in shock and realisation. They knew their days were numbered. And with a loud boom, the pair collided in mid-air over Antoine, of who was still getting his breath back. He didn't believe what he'd done either.

"Way to go Antoine!" Bunnie cried from where she was still battling. "There is some spirit in ya'll after all. Now… get to smashing some more and we'll be home free," she shouted, leaving him with a friendly smile of encouragement.

Antoine nodded, and got back into the ensuring brawl, a small smile now etched into his face. Someone believed in him, and that was all he needed, for now.

Sally meanwhile was just plain kicking ass, as she used her agile form to jump from lab table to lab table and deliver a devastating judo kick to the oncoming Badniks' heads.

And so, as the superdudes and dudettes slowly but surely wiped out Badnik after Badnik, Robotnik began to panic.

"We must have more power! Snively!"

His hunchbacked robot suit-clad assistant peered up into the skies. Almost in answer to his smarmy prayer, a gigantic bolt of lightning arced into the radio antenna and shot down to the waiting generators. The antenna rig lit up with that dazzling blue-white light much beloved of mad scientists and overpaid special-effects departments the world over, and began to crumple. Its metal struts screamed with stress and then started to fly off like the buttons pinging off Robotnik's waistcoat the day his laundry robot used too hot a setting in his wash. The rig shook and swayed as if affect by an earthquake.

"Now, Snively! Do it now!" Robotnik screamed. The liquids in the glass containers were bubbling furiously and sparks of electricity lit the room up like daylight. Sonic, Sally, Tails and Rotor pressed ever closer, leaving a trail of smashed Badniks behind them. Bunnie meanwhile was trying to avoid the stray sparks which were jumping around the room now, along with Antoine, as they pressed forward as well. She _definitely_ didn't want to see how conductive her metallic limbs were anytime soon.

* * *

Together, Robotnik and Snively pulled the levers on the generator down.

A vast surge of electrical energy powered down the metal coils and flowed into the monster on the slab. Its limbs twitched horribly. Ducking the diving attacks of the Buzzers, Sonic and the others could only look on in horror as the gigantic torso of the monster commenced straining against the straps that held it in place.

Snively pulled another lever. The slab began to jerk as the monster sat bolt upright and it began to descend.

"It is free! My beautiful creation! Now it will destroy the Green Hill Zone, the Great Forest and eventually Knothole, and all your revolting squeaky friends will be destroyed! And now then it your turn, wretched hedgehog, princess and friends! Ha ha ha! Mad! They called me mad! I who have discovered the secret to eternal life! Ha ha ha haaa!" Robotnik screamed. He fled for the far end of the room, getting as far away from Princess Sally and her comrades as his plump legs could manage.

Our heroes could only watch helplessly, their path to him blocked by the last of the Grounders, as he hopped into his waiting Egg-o-Matic and vanished into the night. Snively followed close behind him, leaving in a second [but smaller and shoddily green painted] Egg-o-Matic of his own.

* * *

**Computer Laboratory / Tower of Power / Castle Robotnik / South Island / 06: 45 AM**

Sonic and Tails bounced and destroyed the last of the robots, and with Sally in front they raced to the edge of the opening in the floor. They looked down and saw only a wooden slab far below, its straps and manacles lying in ruins. Frankensonic had come to life, and was surely even now heading out into the night to destroy the Green Hill Zone, the Great Forest and the hidden Knothole Village within – and all their poor, innocent and above all unsuspecting friends too!

High above the, meanwhile, the rig was in imminent danger of collapsing. The first generator exploded right beside them, a victim of its severely overloaded circuits, soon followed by the others. The heroic bunch leapt back in time to avoid being incarnated, but it did knock them off their feet, taking the breath out of them for a few seconds. That'd been _too close_ for comfort.

"We can't follow Robotnik. We've got to follow that monster and stop it!" Sonic yelled. "Cowabunga! This is a time for real heroism, guys!"

The others all nodded, and with Antoine on Bunnie's back and Sally in the other, Sonic grabbed hold of Tails' paws and they flew [and leapt] upwards as the rig toppled sideways, striking the top of the Great Tower and ploughing into its roof, ripping it away. Inside, they could see Robotnik's laboratories vanishing in the collapse of the stonework and a series of explosions as more lightning arced into the tortured metal remnants of the rig. Castle Robotnik was disappearing before their very eyes!

* * *

As he flew away, Snively was full of regrets. The film crew hadn't arrived in time. They must have been delayed coming back from the Marble Zone, and there hadn't been enough power to use the handful of cameras in the Tower of Power, even if Snively had had the time to grab them from the small video studio in the basement, which he had not. But at least, he thought, we should get film footage of Frankensonic stomping the Green Hill Zone and everything green beyond into dust from that ever-reliable Attenbot, and that would make Uncle Julian happy. And a happy Master is also a preoccupied one, and that made one happy Snively. Oh yes!

* * *

And as the last of the explosions reached the inner room of secrecy, and the grandfather clock hands were stopped, permanently. The room and all its secrets were wisped into ash within seconds. Thus, it was lost into time with a great, dazzling white flash of light…

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

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* * *

  
**

The end game is way underway now! Just two more chapters left!

Will Frankensonic level the Green Hill Zone and everything [and everyone] else thereafter? Stay tuned to find out…

* * *

I hope you like this little adaptation [with a few twists and stuff of my own thrown in] so far [especially those who had read the original book!].

I'll see ya sometime, somewhere next time folks. ***smiley face***


	23. OverTheTop Deranged Mayhem & Madness!

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

_

* * *

  
_

**CHAPTER 23: Over-The-Top Deranged Mayhem & Madness! **

Frankensonic had smashed its way through the walls of the Tower of Power as if they were made of tissue paper, before then heading to the outer walls of Castle Robotnik and smashing through them as well. The homing devices installed in its bizarre home-made robotic brain guided it inexorably towards the Green Hill Zone and the Great Forest thereafter, and it lumbered onwards, crushing everything in its path.

* * *

**Outskirts of the Ruins of Castle Robotnik / South Island / 07: 02 AM**

The ruins of the Scrap Brain Zone itself were more destroyed than ever, by the time Sonic and Tails flew down to the ground. Luckily, the falling rubble from the castle had allowed Bunnie to hop to and fro from them in turn, safely delivering her, Sally and Antoine to join the duo whom were watching Frankensonic's progress in despair.

"How can we ever hope to destroy that?" Tails wailed. "It's just impossibly, totally unbelievably huge! Talk about giving a whole new meaning to the term extra large!"

"We have to think of something," Sally snarled in frustration. "It must have weak point, somewhere. All we have to do is find it. Surely," quite a rarity for her, but she didn't sound too convinced of what she'd just expressed.

"Don't worry Sally, we'll definitely find it. Everything has a weak point, after all," the ever logical Rotor pointed out, gaining him a tender smile and nod from the Princess.

"He's right girl-friend. We have to give it a big ol' heave-oh right where it hurts!" Bunnie further added.

"And here wee the giant monster, _Sonicus Robotnikus Blimminhugius_, out on its dark morning prowling," came a smooth, robotic commentary from somewhere off to their left. "It is astonishing that such an enormous creature can move so gracefully. It is in search of its favourite prey, small fluffy animals of la résistance."

"_Gracefully_? What is that?" Sonic growled. "And who is this bogus idiot?"

"And what the fugding heck is _that_?" Tails yelped. Ahead of Frankensonic, a ragged straggle of rats, robots and mobian actors with human-like face-paints were emerging from the glooms of the Scrap Brain Zone's blasted and barren landscape.

"Look like Capone and his rats, and those weird Mobian actors from down in the dungeons?" Sonic said, trying to take it all in.

"Who's Capone? And why are zis creatures wearing such indécent face paints?" Antoine asked, completely befuddled at what his eyes were seeing.

"Capone – long story," Sonic began, in a tone that suggested that he wasn't in the mood to clarify. "As for these actors… They said they were starring as humans in another movie of Robuttnik's, I _think_?" Sonic shrugged. His eyes suddenly widened. "But then, not wanting to steal your thunder and that, little buddy, but what the sugaring flip is _that_?"

The cerulean hedgehog pointed to a swarm of black robots, led by a giant Slicer, which were emerging from the remaining castle walls in the distance.

"Oh mah lucky stars…" Bunnie exclaimed, Antoine's hand squeezing ever harder on her remaining organic hand in over-the-top fear. "We really ah right in the thick of things aren't we?"

"That seems to be the case, Bunnie," Rotor said warily, still abit groggy from the wearing off of Robotnik's brainwashing and his skit as The Count's 'Butler'.

"What is going on? And what's more, what are we going to do?" Tailed yelped, again. "This is complete and utter madness!"

"Thee pu–" Bunnie nudged him gently in the ribs. "_Tails_ has a good point. We're doomed!"

* * *

"Right," came a robot voice in the general direction of the rats. "This is Tortellini your director speaking. Keep your wide-angle lens on that monster and keep the close-up shots for the heroes."

"That must be us," Tails said, puffing his chest out a little. Despite the need to roll his eyes at the kid's actions, Antoine found himself doing the same thing. The girls exchanged a glance and rolled their eyes playfully.

However, the little swarm of Cambots that spread out from the robot giving orders seemed to be giving far more of their attention to Capone and the human-cast Mobians with him.

Frankensonic, distracted for a moment from pursuing his pre-programmed course of mayhem and carnage, looked down at the frenzied hub of activity around it and lo and behold, it was a bit confused. It stared at one group of little things, then at another, and it couldn't figure out what to do. It was sure little things featured in its programming, but it seemed to remember having to do a little stroll first. Unfortunately, internecine warfare broke out among its enemies.

"Hey!" Tortellini yelled. "That's Attenbot D trying to steal my movie! Get him, guys!" His robotic film crew sped towards the second unit approaching in the distance. The rats stood around looking confused. Frankensonic turned its attention to Sir Norbert and Thug, who had decided to go on an all-action glorious-death finale and were charging with their weapons. It raised one immense foot to squash them like bugs, but then it was distracted by yet another group of little creatures swarming towards it.

* * *

Even in the pouring rain, they all seemed to be managing to keep their flaming torches burning as they marched on Castle Robotnik [or what was left of it]. There were literally scores of them. Led by Rosie, the resident Nanny / Elderflower of Knothole [of all people], some other residents of said village and the animals of the Green Hill Zone had turned out to help the rest of their freedom fighting friends. She'd even talked a selection of creatures from the Emerald Hill Zone and beyond into helping out [which both elevated and gnawed at Sonic's heart]: a rabbit that looked like Johnny Lightfoot, a chicken that may have been a brother or sister to Chirps, a bluebird that may or may not have been Flicky the bluebird, the list went on… They were on marching on Castle Robotnik holding smouldering torches, with Mickey and his monkey friends and a swarm of bats for company.

"Rosie! Everyone! What in the world are you doing out here? It's dangerous!" Sally yelled as she ran on over to hug Rosie, the one [and best] nanny she'd ever had growing up, especially after her father disappeared… Her azure eyes flittered between scorn and happiness; it'd felt like a week or so since she'd seen them all. It still worried her though, them all being here and not back _there_.

"It is good to see you too darlings," Rosie's said to the gathered Freedom Fighters, her friendly voice caressing them with her unbeatable warmth.

Bunnie, being ever impulsive, got ahead of the Princesses next question.

"But what about Knothole, Rosie, honey? To be left all defenceless like this…"

Tails gasped, realising the probable situation at hand, so Sonic put a firm, comforting hand on his shoulder.

Rosie chuckled. "No need to worry dears. I made sure to leave a small group of the most capable in our place. Freddy the Fly is leading them," she whispered to them.

Sally breathed a sigh of relief. There may not have been many 'capable' of defending the village, but the fact that there was still some left was satisfying enough to them all, from what she could gather from everyone's else's faces.

_Even if we should fall… then at least they'll be others ready to continue the fight. I just hope we get Rosie and the others to safety, if that is our fate…_

_

* * *

  
_

"As you join us here, its nine wickets down and twenty overs to go before the close of play," one of the Cricket Bats commentated. "All it needs now is a good yorker, leg stump."

"I don't think so," Mickey replied. "I think a good bouncer, at about head high, is just what we need here." He charged over to where Sonic and co were standing amidst the general chaos. Sally was consulting with NICOLE over any effective offensive manoeuvres open to them. The monster looked down

"What's your bright idea then, Mickey?" Sonic asked, looking at the spanner the monkey held so firmly in his grasp. Sally observed, wondering if the new arrival would serve to confirm what she and NICOLE suspected.

"Get me up to its head," Mickey yelled to them, waving an electronic screwdriver and an enormous monkey wrench [well what else would he use?]. "I can dismantle that overgrown piece of garbage, chums." The fox's tails were already spinning.

Unfortunately, they couldn't have picked a worse moment, for Frankensonic had just then dealt with Sir Norbert and Thug's valiant efforts, knocking them unconscious. Now his prime targets were just on the horizon, but his sensors were no longer distracted and so he saw their approach. So drawing back a fist the giant brute swatted the fox and monkey out of the sky before the Freedom Fighters could scream. They landed in a heap away from the chaos.

Sonic was the first one to arrive [naturally], but Sally and the others soon brought up the rear.

"Tails? Tails? Buddy, are you alright? TAILS!" Sonic asked, frantic, shaking the fox gently to snap him out of his 'funk'. It'd worked before so it would work again…

Sally's eyes were growing moist, but despite the motherly guilt threatening to tear her asunder, she held it together, and with Bunnie's assistance slowly removed Sonic from Tails' inner surroundings. The princess checked his pulse and breathing. Both were slower than they needed to be, and were declining fast. She knew she'd have to do this someday, but she never dreamed it'd be so soon…

She inhaled a great amount of air and then exhaled it into her adopted nephew's mouth, performing the chest pumps that her father [or was it Rosie?] had taught her so long ago, all for such days as these when there was victims of this war. _No…_ _Tails isn't gonna die today. He just CAN'T! Not on my watch, not before he can live a life without fighting, that much he, we all, deserve. He can't die, not now_, Sally's thoughts reiterated over and over as she repeated the CPR routine.

The others stood quietly and watched glumly, even Antoine had droplets of moisture gathering in his eyes [not that he'd probably admit it if you pointed it out to him], whereas Bunnie was inconsolable. So the coyote had put his arm around her shoulders and she was crying into his chest.

Sonic, meanwhile, was sitting on a nearby rock just staring at Tails' body and also beyond it at nothingness on the horizon. The shouting, screaming and roars of the chaotic battle somewhere over there were almost completely off his wavelength at that moment. As to be honest, at that moment, he didn't care about it or Frankensonic at all. he just wanted Tails back, his buddy, his little bro… The only best friend he'd ever had. Sure he'd had Chirps, Johnny, Flicky and the rest back in the Emerald Hill Zone, but they were all gone now, and Tails was just _Tails_. He was simply irreplaceable. He couldn't bear it if he…

A deep, gaspingly choke shattered the silence.

"Tails! Tails, honey, can you hear me? Come back to us, please…" Sally begged, tilting the fox's head correctly so he could start inhaling oxygen on his own.

"A-A-Aunt… S-S-Sally…? Where am I? What happened? Sonic! Where's Sonic?!" the young fox cried out erratically, struggling in Sally's strong hug.

"I'm here Tails, I'm here, little buddy," Sonic said reassuringly, zipping on over at the speed of light [or close to]. "Everything's gonna be okie now… I promise."

"B-but what about the m-monster, I mean Frankensonic? Did Mickey get 'em?" the fox said anxiously, the pounding in his head beginning to clear a bit.

Sonic felt a stab of guilt. He hadn't been that close with Mickey in his nomad days before he'd met Tails but he was still a friend and he hadn't even wondered where he was or if he was ok. And what did that say about him?

"He's right here Sugahs," Bunnie's breezy voice came from behind them.

In her arms was Mickey, albeit unconscious, and Antoine was at her side, fidgeting awkwardly due to the atmosphere surrounding him and the battle[s] happening over there.

Sonic's face was glum, Tails' too, as he thought he was quite talented even if he was _weird_. "I'm sorry, Mickey old chum… You rest easy now, we'll continue the plan," Sonic whispered.

"Umm, not to be a downer or anything guys, but does anyone know how to dismantle such a creature? …NICOLE can't get a read on it," came Sally's voice of reason.

None of them answered.

But one frail voice spoke up from a small distance away, surprising Sonic and Tails.

* * *

"I-I can dismantle that overgrown beast, p-piece of cake."

The voices owner was none other than 'Chloe' the lime green, pink scarf-wearing Canary. Her eyes were downcast and she was shaking abit. What really surprised Sonic and Tails was that she all the way over here and Capone was all the way over _there_. They'd never seen them apart, so what gave?

"Not to be rude or anything, Miss Chloe–"

"The names Tekno, Mr Sonic," the canary injected quickly, surprising him and Tails a bit.

"Oh. Well, Tekno, but just why are you here with us and not with Capone? Isn't he your… you know what?" Sonic said awkwardly.

The avian was silent for a moment or two, regaining her composure it looked like to the more observant eyes of Sally, Bunnie and Rotor. They'd already sussed out the answer before Tekno had even uttered a word. They listened intently to their new ally of sorts anyway.

"Capone isn't my boyfriend. He never was. I-I was forced to dote on him for years; he took me off the streets when my m-momma and p-poppa weren't looking y-you s-see–" The sea of tears came forth then, having been held back for years, but it was crystal clear what had happened [to most of the gathered anyway]. Bunnie hugged her in an effort to reassure her.

"So that's what happened," Tails said sadly, trying to imagine how he'd feel if he'd been snatched out from under his parents' eyes. Then he remembered he was an orphan.

Sonic, meanwhile, looked as it if he were halfway between being glum [assumedly at Tekno's misfortunes] or being extremely bored. Sally, assuming the last option, nudged him hard in the shoulder area.

"Ow! What was THAT for?"

"You know _why_, Sonic," the princess said with a stern frown.

"Hmph. Well, anyway, you said that you could dismantle Frankensonic?" Sonic began, trying to tread ever so slowly over to his point.

"Yes, I believe I can," Tekno replied firmly, the tear stains having dried and a growing grin taking their place.

"I see. Well, not to be rude or anything…" He shot Sally a glare that told in no leaps and bounds that what he was gonna say next didn't require another hit. "But you don't like the, umm, technical type?"

Surprising them all, the lime green canary laughed.

"I expected as much, these clothes hardly fit the 'techno-geek' norm do they?"

Sonic shrugged.

"As for my technical know-how, well my name was given to me for a reason you know. Plus my father and mother are… were, reasonably well up in one of Robotnik's Computer Manufacturing Depots in Robotropolis. I was too, until, well, you know…" She continued on, even with the incredulous stares that were being sent her way now. For all they knew Tekno's folks were their enemies… The child labour aspect to the tale wasn't a pleasant thought either.

"Being surrounded by technology at work and at the small flat we were given residence in, I became naturally talented with it. Enough to know how to dismantle a Swatbot or even that Frankensonic as you call it up there."

"You and your famillie were allowed to remain normal... Why iz this? Robotnik wouldn't need to house his workers if zay were all robots," Antoine murmured incredulously. It was a good question, and one on the lips of all of them. They looked to Tekno expectantly for a logical explanation.

"I do not know the answer to that one I'm afraid, perhaps he just wanted to humour us all, letting us work and live in dread of the inevitable..." She choked on the last word, for she knew that sometime in the passage of time that had transpired since her kidnap her folks were probably robotized [or worse], maybe even due to her disappearance.

The silence said that everyone else had reached the same conclusion. They each had more in common with Tekno than they were willingly to say.

"As horrible as this all is, I think we should focus on the matter at hand, guys," Rotor said, trying hard not to sound too uncaring, cos he sympathised with Tekno, they all did he was sure, but life rolled on and new hardships were made anew. And one needed to be put down permanently right now.

"He's right guys, we need to stop Frankensonic and Robotnik now," Sally said. "You still up for dismantling the monster, Tekno?"

"Yes, it shall be no problem, Princess Sally," Tekno saluted, with a determined look on her features.

The princess blinked twice in surprise.

"What? The Freedom Fighters are a well-known group, even in the heart of Robotropolis' work sectors. Even the broadcast censorship of such revolutionaries didn't stop it getting through the right channels," she smirked, obviously referring to at least herself.

They were impressed at her tat and resources, especially Sonic who'd only saw her as Capone's quiet damsel in distress up until this point. _Never judge a book by its cover indeed_, he thought, recalling the words his Uncle Chuck had spoken to him once.

After that, Sally quickly suggested that they should all prove to be a distracting obstacle to Frankensonic to ensure Tekno's success, especially seeing as Sir Norbert and Thug were still MIA. And so as Tails took off with the determined Tekno in tow and the others ran in to distract Frankensonic, Tortellini confronted Attenbot.

* * *

"And here we see the major problem evolution has bequeathed to the hapless Frankensonic," the Attenbot went on babbling. "Its primitive brain is simply not equipped to deal with such complex sets of sensory inputs, and–"

In a mastery piece of television criticism, and providing a lesson of which many more should take heed, Tortelleni ripped the Attenbot's head off. His film crew cheered wildy. Sadly for them, they'd never have guessed that the aforementioned had many copies of himself throughout the world, whom regulated data footage back to the real one periodically, this being one of them, of course.

In the distance, a black robotic killer squad edged ever closer.

"Melt-down time!" the huge Slicer promised, urging them ever forward. "Ignore these irrelevant vermin," it continued with contempt in its voice, pointing to the rats in the way.

"Irrelevant rats, huh? Why, I oughta… Suck on this, you dirty rat!" Capone snarled, raising the Ebon Staff of Peaminster the Magnificent like a bazooka and flicking his paws over the _Inferno_ setting. The rat gangster almost fell over backwards as a huge cloud of fire billowed from the staff. All that was left when the smoke dispersed was a large pile of smoking, metal junk.

Up in the air, Tekno grabbed one end of the long stitched line which zigzagged across Frankensonic's forehead.

"It's just like a typical zipper. Just flying along it," she said to Tails, her eyes continuing to scan the creature's body. She then readied the spanner and thrusted it into the zipper line with a disgusting crunch. Frankensonic howled in pain, he didn't know what had hit him.

It was then a free for all down on the ground, as Sally, Bunnie, Rotor and nervous Antoine pummelled away at the creature's front to distract and or hurt him further. You could hear Bunnie's southern yodelling and Antoine's whimpering from a mile or three away, the animals of the Green Hill Zone would say later on in reflection to this day, the exhausted owls especially whom had all but packed their bags for eastern pastures anew.

And so as the flying fox cautiously zipped along sideways, Tekno's burrowed spanner moved slowly but surely along the zipper line, still making horrible sounds, and neatly flipped open the top of its cranium to reveal a mass of whirring cogs and buzzing circuit boards. _So it was more mecha than organic_, the canary thought with intrigue to herself.

"It's a good thing that my momma and poppa gave me that book, '_Teach Yourself Brain Control In Ten Easy Lessons_', that one time. It had a whole section on the central cortex in the humanoid brain and how to impair it, and I doubt this sucker is too different!" Tekno commented cheerily, albeit completely out of puff with the strain of her efforts so far. Noticing this, she told Tails what she had been going to and had him relay it to Sonic instead.

"Sonic, get on up here and use the spanner to total Frankensonic! Just unwind its nuts!"

Mr Cool in Blue, naturally, was only too happy to finish up shop.

"No sooner said than done, my fair lady," he laughed. "You did a great job, both of you" he said, giving her and Tails his trademarked thumbs up. He plunged into Frankensonic's robotic brain and his paws were a blur of whirling action, undoing bolt and screw he could find.

* * *

The monster's eyes crossed and rolled back in their sockets. Clawing frantically at the air, the enormous horror began to totter backwards as a stream of spare metal parts flew from its opened skull. Sonic flew out just in time and the monster staggered backwards. Sally had her arm stretched out to halt a final offensive, because they may not even need to now, as much disappointment as that'd be to Bunnie [and Sonic even]. As if to prove her gut feeling right, Frankensonic lumbering staggered and reached almost to the walls of Castle Robotnik, where it fell like a space shuttle and demolished what was left of the place in an instant. Where once Dr Robotnik's castle had stood like a gloomy sentinel at the top of the hill, piles of rubble littered the Scrap Brain Zone like many oversized toy bricks. Everyone cheered wildly.

"Did you get that on film?" Capone growled to Tortellini.

"Don't growl at me. I pulla the heads off things that growl at me, you know whadda I mean?" the robot snarled back; he was really getting into this role.

"Okay, chill out," Capone said taking a step backwards. "Like, how did your boys do? Speaking as one brudda to anudda."

"They did great, I tell you," the robot said happily. "We got you immortalised on video forever, nuking those robots. There's an Eggscar in this for everyone."

Capone puffed out his chest and the buttons on his jacket almost popped off.

"Hey! Chloe! Come over here and do that fawning adulation again, babe," he ordered.

Seconds passed and when his moll didn't come over and throw herself at his feet, annoyed, he looked around. That was when he ntied her over there, and the company she had.

Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, Tails and Sonic had positioned themselves protectively in front of '_Chloe_', fighting scowls on their faces, whilst Antoine stayed in the back with Tekno.

Capone's expression cycled like a slot machine through confusion then anger and then landing sourly on ignorant pride.

"Bah! You were lousy in bed and beyond boring anyway," he scoffed. "There are better kettlefish in the sea, ones that actually dig and appreciate my awesomeness. Ha!"

The defiance and utter lack of interest in the insults shone through Tekno's rolling eyes. This left Capone to snarl loudly and curse under his breath, stomping away like a child who'd not gotten his way. The Freedom Fighters laughed, bringing a smile to both Tekno and Sonic's faces especially who couldn't be any less glad to see him and his motley crew go.

_I'm free…_ Tekno thought to herself, _I'm free from him and the rest of those smelly rats!_

"Good on you girlfriend. I guess I needn't have a word with you on gender stereotyping and equal rights," Bimbette the scantily dressed Thief said proudly, having witnessed the whole stand off from afar. "You sure showed that caveman where to go!"

The continued gleam in Tekno's eyes said that they were among the best words she'd heard in years. And so a new bound of friendship or two was made.

* * *

**END CHAPTER**

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Did you really think I'd kill Tails off? Seriously folks… I just wanted to add a brush of reality to the situation, wars usually do tend to take causalities after all, and whereas Tails' time wasn't now, that doesn't mean there won't be any victims to the ongoing war with Robotnik… and beyond. No soirée bob.

And yes, this is Tekno from Sonic the Comic; I couldn't have Shorty show up as Sir Norbert and not include her, no?

The final chapter will cover what happens to the leftover characters [Capone, Tekno, Spielbot, 'Bimbette' and co] in the aftermath of Frankensonic, as well as the main cast. After that its farewell to this adaptation for good.

* * *

I hope you've liked this little adaptation with my twists and original stuff thrown in, especially those who've read and own the original book!

See you next time for the conclusion folks! ***extra big smiley face***


	24. All's Well That Ends Well, Dudes

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Robotnik and all the rest. No, not even Knothole…_

_The 'Sonic the Hedgehog: In Castle Robotnik' book is a Sega owned copyright, published by Virgin Books and written by Martin Adams._

_---Cue Special Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: Sonic CD – Sonic BOOM---_

_

* * *

  
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**CHAPTER 24: All's Well That Ends Well, Dudes **

**Green Hill Zone / South Island / 09: 16 AM**

Back in the refreshing air and beautiful sights of the Green Hill Zone at last, Spielbot S, Tekno and the mobian actors were finishing their farewells to Sonic, the other Freedom Fighters and their friends from Knothole and beyond.

"I'm going to be a purely independent movie maker from now on," Spielbot told them cheerfully. "I have this idea for a movie about an alien who comes to befriend a little hedgehog and reveal the wickedness of our ways to us. I was going to call it _Eggstra-Terrestrial_ but I'm sure I'll think of something much better."

"Wish you well, metallic dude," Sonic said a little uncertainly. He didn't often converse with robots, especially nice ones, after all. Although Spielbot seemed well-meaning, he wasn't sorry when the robot clanked off into the distance.

Bunnie still hollered something about 'free cinema passes for new friends' though. Spielbot never did reply back…

* * *

"So what are you and, umm, what was your name again, your real one?" Sonic asked curiously of Tekno and her new friend 'Bimbette'.

"It's Loraine, mister Sonic Hedgehog," the Dragon Li specified feline said in an alluring Spanish tone, the actor group all having washed off their hideous human-looking face paint into one of the big Green Hill rivers [that way it wouldn't contaminate it much, if at all].

Sally willed herself to think nothing of it, and nothing showed, on the outer rims of her shell anyway.

"Oh yeah, sorry!" he carried on sheepishly. "So what are you gals going to do now?"

"Well…" Tekno began, continuing quickly after a polite nod from Loraine. "I _want_ to head into Robotropolis, get back into the work sector I was in and see if my parents are still alive," The FFs faces were ones of horror, at least until she finished her sentence. "-but Loraine convinced me different." She sighed sadly.

"It's for the best honey, it's just too dangerous, probably far more than it was back then," Loraine said soothingly whilst stroking Tekno's feathery hair. The grim looks on Sally and co only served as further confirmation of the fact. They knew the place better than anyone, bar Robotnik and Snivel-kins, of course.

"I know," Tekno said, her eyes downcast. "I just need to know, ya know?"

"I'm sure NICOLE could hack into Robotnik's systems to see if there are any remaining records of you and them…" Sally began, feeling the girl's pain, seeing as she had no idea what'd become of her parents to this day.

Tekno's eyes lit up for the third time that day, but whilst she was very thankful for the offer, she'd decided that it was something she wanted to achieve herself. She had kept her computer hacking skills from waning whilst under Capone, unsurprisingly, after all.

She'd left with Loraine, Shorty [Sir Norbert], Boxer [Thug] and Clive [Drizzle] to the human settlement, Station Square, far from the grasp of Robotnik to the east. The actors had agreed to disagree that the movie business just wasn't for them and that perhaps theatre might be more to their likings [or so Loraine had kinda, sorta, badgered into them, anyway]. Not that Sir Norbert or Thug had any problem with following Loraine around… [Poor dudes, she's _just not that into you!_]

Tekno had said she'd be in touch once she found herself in the city, be it working in a computer shop or starting up such a business herself and expanding it [eventually] into something more her worth. Sally had given her NICOLE's access channel anyway, something not even the boys and girls in her party knew.

Sonic was trying not to pout, Tails was rolling his eyes and Rotor just chuckled at it all.

After some warm farewells from everyone, Tekno and the rest had swiftly left eastbound across the Green Hill Zone.

Now it was only the Freedom Fighters and their fellow inhabitants of Knothole that remained on the hillside overlooking the vastness of the zone.

* * *

"Antoine seems to have recovered fully, without any side-effects," Tails said happily as he stuffed another burger into the crevice in his face. "I guess he was right after all. He just recovered of his own strength."

"Yeah, that would explain it," Sonic added sarcastically. "Either that or after we and bolt-for-brains demolished Castle Robotnik, whatever had been turning him into a wailing monster was destroyed." He shrugged. Tails shrugged. It was entirely possible. But it wasn't important anymore.

"I've been doing some research on that," Mickey said as he wolfed down another pawnful of peanuts. He was still abit annoyed that he'd lost his fighting chance at Frankensonic, but he was glad they'd managed to do it, with a spanner welding bird-girl of all things! It was a dirty geeks dream come true, or in this case, a monkey's. [Don't tell Dawn…] "-On the remains of Frankensonic's brain. I've got a way to go yet, you. You can't learn everything there is to know about Weird Science all in one go, guys."

"I worry about you," Sonic said half-seriously. "Are you totally sure you won't end up like Robotnik? I mean, I don't trust all this tinkering with electricity and brains and stuff."

"How could I end up like Robotnik? I hate eggs," the monkey sniffed. "Give me a decent banana milk shake any day." With that, he put the striped straw in his mouth and sucked greedily at his long, long glass.

"Hey, Rosie, if you hadn't turned up with all our buddies and everyone like that, the monster wouldn't have gotten so confused and distracted. And, Tekno aside for one sec, we'd never have been able to get into its brain and destroy it! Good call, my fave bushy-tailed, nut-livin' pal!"

The elderly nanny chuckled. "Well, we all know that you're freedom fighting champions, but sometimes even you kids could do with a little help now and again," Rosie the Chipmuck said warmly and modestly. Sonic beamed with pride.

"Exactly, Mr Blue Hedgehog," Antoine smirked. "Even you iz not an island."

Sonic just yawned him off, threatening to start off the next spat wars… The others couldn't wait. Not.

"Yeah, it's like a great leg-break bowler always needs a fast reaction man at short square leg," one of the Cricket Bats said with an air of vacuous profundity. The other Cricket Bats nodded sagely. No one else knew what on Mobius they meant. Having short legs was enough of a problem without them being square as well.

* * *

"Well, I guess it's better late than ever, but we should get back to Knothole pronto before Robotnik sends his forces here to cleanup and spy on us all the way there," Sally chimed in.

The others agreed and like in a certain tale about an ark, they all went in two by two, so as to look a little less conspectus. Thankfully, almost half of the assembled had been from surrounding zones anyway.

As the tired bunch reached the chute into the hidden settlement of Knothole, in the deep depths of the Great Forest, an hour or so later, Sonic began voicing his concerns:

"After all that nonsense, I just wish we knew what that major butt-pain Robotnik and Snively are up to now. What'll he do next, after Badniks and Monsters?"

"At least Capone may help stop him, by being a big annoyance!" Tails said, trying to cheer Sonic up. "And he's got those robots with him as well. Tortellini, I think the leader was called. He'll be able to get right up Robotnik's nose."

Sonic looked rather disgusted. "Makes him sound like something nasty," he retorted. "No, you mark my words. The next dastardly scheme he pulls will be even _crazier_." [Oh, if only he knew]

"But what does it matter?" Sally said brightly. "He's tried again and again against us and failed. Sooner or later, we will win out on top. And then Mobius will be free again like it should be," she ended in a determined tone.

"But now, I think it's high time we all get some nice shuteye before we start planning anymore, don't you think, guys?"

"Amen to that Sally-girl, amen to that," Bunnie said.

And that is what they all did, even the blue blur. It'd been a _long_ two or more days.

* * *

**Robotnik's Secret Lab II / Robotropolis / South Island / 23: 48 PM**

In a confined and secret room under his citadel, the deemed 'Cathedral of Transformation', Robotnik was tinkering with a yellow circular machine part of some kind.

The loss of the room wasn't as scathing as he'd raged on about for hours after hearing of Frankensonic's demise and the utter destruction of his castle hideaway, not after finding out that Snively did have his uses after all, his backup device having worked a threat. The data backup from the castle was waiting for him back in his first secret lab.

He _would_ uncover that pesky Grimer's work on the LXP, oh he would…

And Frankensonic had only been a test anyway; he hadn't expected him to actually carry out his theatrical orders, though he had hoped for more footage of nature-adoring zones being flattened into dust… This madman couldn't get enough of that.

"Snively! Go get me the CDX25 engine, now!" he ordered his nephew, no longer clad in metal clad 'Eggor' suit, via a hooked intercom to the upper quarters of his HQ.

The aforementioned had responded with a 'Yes, sire' in his usual dry, dreary tone, as per the norm.

Robotnik wasted no time in getting back to work on this, the last construction stages of his latest project. As he did so, he ended up thinking about the intriguing item[s] his cleanup crew had found in the crevices of his former castle [he couldn't leave anything to chance that the monster formulae or anything pertaining to LXP had survived, waiting for any of the moronic rebel vermin to find and use against him].

They'd come back with the half incinerated, half corpse of the 'Tails Werewolf' specimen. Despite being one of the first to be made and the first to experience increasing signs of unstable molecular deconstruction, he'd been the only surviving corpse out of the whole monster crew. Werewolves were as resilient as vampires, if not more than [in the case of 'Count Antoine'], it seemed. How intriguing that'd been, but ho ho! It'd gotten even _better_.

One of his Ballhog's had come back with a concealed glass container holding adequate strands of hair. _Blue hedgehog hair_. Yet another resilient material.

Oh how that had sent the scientist into wobbling glee at the _possibilities_!

Nevertheless, he filed them away 'for a rainy day'.

Then he was laughing. No... Cackling madly, long after as he'd finished installing the CDX25 engine. And right into morning…

Sonic was soon about to meet his match.

* * *

**~FIN~**

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* * *

  
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And thus, thee story hath endeth! My first story on here, completed. Yay!

Sure it was only an adaptation of an already written book and 'Tides Of Light, In Chaos' is a much more in-depth, longer and original-content filled version of the Chaos Saga, but I had a lot of fun writing it, both the stuff straight from the book, to my minor alterations of said stuff and right to the original stuff I threw in there.

I got lots of lovely foreshadows in there. *Rubs his hands with glee*

Well, I guess that's that.

To finish, I'd just like to remind you all [if any of you got this far], that the DA links for certain characters in this story [Mummified Sally, Psycho Bunny, the Castle Robotnik Quartet] are still on my main profile page if you wanna see, comment and fave them.

And with that, I'll [hopefully] see you folks sometime on the next update of 'Tides Of Light, In Chaos', that stories gonna be far bigger and better than this by its shocking climax!

Ciao! ***extra big smiley face***


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